Byzantine Silver-Gilt Ring with Saint

Comprising a flat-section hoop with a starburst motif to the base; openwork shoulders and a square bezel with a pellet to each corner, the bezel engraved with foliate motifs. 3.65 grams, 19.99 mm overall, 18.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10)



Acquired from London galleries during the 1990s. From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman.

Some rings from the Balkan territories of the Eastern Empire (for example the ring from Dobrača) bear a square thickened bezel engraved with schematic representations. What sets them apart are the widened shoulders emphasised by a plastic rib and the raised and flattened head, which places them in the group of rings which dates mainly to the 11th century (from the end of the 10th to the first decades of the 12th century).

Mixed group of square trade weights with punched and incised detailing. 36.4 grams total, 7-14 mm



Acquired since the 1970s. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Two-piece enkolpion with hinged suspension loop, to each face a low-relief Corpus Christi with facing mask above. 29.7 grams, 62 mm



Acquired on the London art market in the late 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of an East London, UK, gentleman.