Chinese Amuletic Glass Pendant

Flat-section hoop with inner sleeve; voided cross to each shoulder and incised blackletter script legend 'AD TE LEVAVI ANIMAM MEAM' ('To You Lord I Lift Up My Soul'); discoid bezel with beaded rim, high-relief triskele of bent legs with mask to the centre. 12.5 grams, 29.44 mm overall, 21.23 mm internal diameter (approximate size British X, USA 11 1/2, Europe 26.29, Japan 25)



Ex Arundel, East Sussex, UK, private collection, 1970s-2000.

The text is the intro from the first Sunday of Advent. The triskele with central gorgoneion is the heraldic badge of the island of Sicily.

Saint George on horseback, dispatching the dragon with a spear; the saint dressed in lamellar Roman cuirass and seated on a high-ended saddle secured by breast, rump, and belly straps; Old Slavic inscription on the top, reciting Saint George (Свято́й Гео́ргий ). 90 grams, 65 mm



Acquired from Chris Martin-Zakheim, Iconastas, 5 Piccadilly Arcade, London SW1. From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.

According to the Christian tradition, Saint George would have lived between the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century: born into a noble Christian family, he became an officer in the Roman army and was then named a praetorian by Diocletian. But when the same emperor decided to resume the persecutions, Saint George became a victim despite his important political rank. His role in the development of the faith is so important that he is included among the Great Martyrs of the Eastern Church and his fight against the dragon becomes a symbol par excellence of the fight for good which defeats evil.

Including fusiform, plano-convex and other types; after the antique. 46 grams total, 14-31 mm



From the late S M collection, London, UK, 1969-1999.