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LOT 0780
Byzantine Red Marble Fragment from the House of Ananias in Damascus
CIRCA 6TH CENTURY A.D.
3 1/4 in. (182 grams, 82 mm).
Corner piece with polished face; an old handwritten label to the side reading 'Stone from "Ananiani's" house Damascus May 1861'. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Damascus, Syria, in May 1861.
UK private collection.
Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman.
With a late 19th century handwritten identification label attached.
See S., Kościelniak, K., ‘The Churches of Damascus according to Ibn ‘Asākir (d. 1176), The Destruction of the Church of St. John the Baptist by Caliph Walīd I’, in Rocznik Orientalistyczny, Vol. LXIV, Z.1, 2011, pp.133-139, p.135.
FootnotesThe Chapel of San Anania is a religious building located in a two-room crypt in Damascus, approximately four meters below the current street level, reachable by descending a staircase of twenty-three steps from the courtyard of a house that traditionally is attributed to Ananias, the Christian martyr who helped Saul (who became Paul the Apostle), baptised him and helped him hide and leave Damascus, after he had attracted the hatred of the Jews who had organised his killing. It is an apse of an Eastern Roman basilica from the 5th-6th century, cited several times by Arab historical sources such as al-Mussalabeh (of the Holy Cross), brought to light by the excavations carried out by the count Eustache de Lorey.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0780
Byzantine Red Marble Fragment from the House of Ananias in Damascus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £598
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Byzantine Bronze Buckle Plate with Christ and Saints
Circa 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising tongue-shaped plaque with three low-relief busts within scrollwork; two pierced lugs on the reverse. 13.5 grams, 40 mm
From a 1990s collection. Property of an Essex gentleman.
The type belongs to the group of buckles with internal clipeus, according to Baldini-Lippolis. The ‘clipei’ of the belt buckles with figurative motifs show a rather summary rendering of the subjects, which were mainly created by impressing and engraving. Our buckle has a notable parallel with a similar specimen from Baltimore, with a bust of Christ on the clipeus. -
Byzantine Bronze Cross Pendant Group
Circa 12th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Comprising: one with a low-relief Corpus Christi; one with five incised ring-and-dot markings; one with a square central panel and short arms with knop finials; one with conical arms, loop partially absent. 18.4 grams total, 24-45 mm
From the collection of a High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK, gentleman, circa 2000. -
Byzantine Terracotta Slipper Oil Lamp
5th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
With a large tongue-shaped filling hole, a wide channel with raised edges running towards the nozzle, the sides with raised palm leaf decoration; the body of the lamp decorated with raised hatched panels and linear decoration; repaired. 98 grams, 98 mm
Acquired before 1990s/early 2000s. From the family collection of Jack Lyttle (1944-2023), Kilmacolm, Scotland; thence by descent to his granddaughter. Property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.
