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LOT 0396

Sold for (Inc. bp): £208

ETHIOPIAN WOODEN BIFACIAL ICON
LATE 17TH CENTURY A.D.
10 1/8 in. (455 grams, 25.7 cm).

One side with the Crucifixion scene, Virgin Mary and Saint John weeping at the foot of the cross, the soldier Longinus piercing the side of Jesus; the other side with a diptych painted on paper representing a crowned Saint George (Bet Gorgis) and his servant Seqrates dressed like a priest, watching the miracle of the transformation of water into wine; lines of Ge'ez text in black ink on the reverse; wooden frame with closure on both sides, surmounted by a small cross. [No Reserve]

PROVENANCE:
Ex Cy Lester, an antiquarian bookseller, London, UK, circa 1990.
Ex central London gallery.

LITERATURE:
See similar image of dressed Saint George in Walters Gallery, Ethiopian Manuscript W835, folio 37.

FOOTNOTES:
Among the imagery of Ethiopian equestrian saints, three main representational categories can be distinguished: 1) simple portrait of the saint armed with spear or lance and holding the reins of a horse; 2) the saint spearing an enemy; 3) the saint according to one of the aforementioned types placed in a narrative scene.

CONDITION
VETTING:
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