Enamelled Badge and Silver Cufflink Collection

The crest of Frederick Louis impaling the arms of his late wife, Augusta (1719-1772), daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, whom he married in 1736, accompanied by some forty livery and military badges and metalled horse trappings, housed in a glazed wall cabinet with opening front. 21.65 kg, 132 x 68 x 14 cm



Ex Morningthorpe Manor, Norfolk, UK.

The parish of Morningthorpe is situated in south Norfolk, east of Long Stratton and west of Hempnall. The parish was certainly well established by the time of the Norman Conquest, its population, land ownership and productive resources being detailed in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Mixed group of figures with anatomical details. 412 grams. 11-17.5 cm

Very fine condition.

From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.

Representing the Vladimir Mother of God with the Divine Child; the half-length figure Mary with covered head turned right and with her left hand raised; holding the embracing infant Jesus in her right hand; above them inscription in Greek letters 'ΜΡ ΘΥ' (Mother of God); flanking the central icon and beneath it the images of the Saints Peter, Paul, Peter of Moscow and John Chrysostomos, Saint Gregory and Saint Dimitri; in the foreground the city of Vladimir. 96 grams, 60 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.

The original icon prototype of these smaller icons was the icon of the Virgin Mother of Vladimir with the infant Jesus (the original preserved in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), probably the most famous icon of Russia, which was thought to have been created in Constantinople in the early part of 1100s. This image is sometimes referred to as the ‘tenderness icon’, with artists attempting to show the close relationship of mother and son with their cheeks touching as they embrace.