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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 Marble Fragment from the Golden Gate in Jerusalem
Circa 520 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Sub-rectangular in form with three polished faces; old handwritten label to one side reading 'Stone from Golden Gate Jerusalem July 1861'. 165 grams, 66 mm
Found Jerusalem in July 1861. UK private collection. Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman. With a late 19th century handwritten identification label attached.
The Golden Gate, so called in Christian literature, or She'ar Harahamim ('Gate of Mercy') is the oldest of the city gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located on the eastern side of the ancient city walls and it is believed that the meeting at the Golden Gate of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne took place there, an episode depicted in various pictorial cycles dedicated to the life of Saint Anne (including the one by Giotto in the Scrovegni chapel in Padua). The current gate was probably built on the ruins of the older one, in the 6th century A.D., as part of Justinian's building program. According to another theory, the construction took place at the end of the 7th century, by Roman craftsmen hired by the Umayyad caliphs. -
Byzantine Gold Star Ring
Circa 13th-14th century A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £400
Composed of a slender carinated hoop adorned with filigree supporting a hollow-formed star-shaped bezel set with central polished cabochon garnet and granules, each of six arms pierced, remaining granule to one shoulder. 1.76 grams, 23.61 mm overall, 20.80 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S 1/2, USA 9 1/4, Europe 20.63, Japan 19)
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
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Post Byzantine Bronze Ring with Inscription
Circa 18th century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
With ellipsoid plaque, incuse border and text 'KERO / HOHAN / A'. 5.55 grams, 22.52 mm overall, 17.80 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14)
From the collection of a High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK, gentleman, circa 2000.
