Byzantine Ribbed Glass Cosmetic Bottle

Depicted limp with a collar or wineskins draped around the waist, modelled in the round with naturalistic detailing and curled horns. 56 grams, 49 mm



‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.

Comprising: a cross buckle with pin; the upper plate of a small enkolpion with a praying Virgin or Saint; two orthodox pectoral crosses, both with inscription 'IC' (Iesus) 'XC' (Christos ) 'NIKA' (Christ is victorious); the smallest cross with invocation-prayer engraved on the back. 51.8 grams total, 36-73 mm



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.

The fragment of the simpler Maltese cross mount corresponds to the type E2 of Schulze-Dörrlamm, here with straight arms with rounded corners. It resembles the cross-shaped hinge fittings of the belt buckles from Herrera de Pisuerga and tomb 9 from El Tesorillo from Visigoth Spain, two bronze fittings from Lusitania and the buckle with busts of saints and the Greek inscription 'Light and Life' from Korbous in Tunisia. These kind of buckles were also found in male warrior graves.

Of hollow, bulbous form, now slightly squashed, four pellets to each side and an apex pellet, granule clusters to both hemispheres, socket to base with roughly square-shaped cross-section, three circular attachment piercings with granulated borders. 2.47 grams, 17 mm



From a late Japanese specialist collector, 1970-2000s.