Carved Printing Block with Mughal Scene

Plano-convex in section, asterisk to underside, eyes drilled to accept inserts. 1.58 grams, 19 mm



Acquired on the European art market in the early 2000s. with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland.

Bifacial openwork pendant decorated with black and white enamel, featuring a central cross with fleur-de-lys terminals, the border decorated with alternating lozenges and annulets; some re-enamelling. 18.33 grams, 56 mm



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13401-257987.

Formed as a hand showing figa gesture, silver mount with applied twisted wires; attachment loop and ring to the top. 19.6 grams, 56 mm



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market.

Mano Fico, as protective amulets, have been used since antiquity. It was believed to protect from the evil eye and other dark and magical forces and to promote fertility. In ancient Rome, the fig sign, or mano fico, was made by the pater familias (father of the family) to ward off the evil spirits of the dead as a part of the Lemuria ritual. The ancient Greeks wore amulets of the gesture around the neck to protect from the evil eye, and also used the gesture in artwork. What they considered an overtly sexual gesture was expected to distract evil spirits from causing harm. The pendant would have been worn from a belt or from a chatelaine containing other protective talismans. This carving would have served as a token representing a person's pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, one of the very few places in which jet can be found and mined since at least the Middle Ages.