Georgian Bronze Bird Statuette Pair

With a bulbous body and wide foot, the neck formed as a draped female figure with an opening on her back, ribbed strap handle; a flower on each side of the female figure with an emerging head of a lady to the centre (one absent); a large female face to the front of the body with elaborate coiffure and painted necklace. 2.56 kg, 53.5 cm



From the family collection of a Hampstead gentleman; formerly acquired in the 1980s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Vesica-shaped diptych with standing nimbate Mary and child; openwork panel with mail-clad knight wearing a plumed helmet; believed to be by William Smith and Charles Eaton, 'dated' 1006 A.D. 241 grams total, 16 cm



Received from the curator of Leeds Museum by descent, circa mid 1980s. Ex property of a Yorkshire lady. From the private collection of a Cheshire, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

"Billy and Charlies", also known as the Shadwell forgeries, refer to a very extensive series of fake antiquities made in Victorian London by William Smith (Billy) and Charles Eaton (Charley). They were mudlarks who searched the Thames for items of value. William Edwards, a London antique dealer, made Billy's acquaintance around 1845, and he met Charley some years later. He paid them for items of interest that they found. Billy and Charley earned money from this until 1857, when they decided to counterfeit antiquities. They cast objects from lead or pewter, cutting dies into plaster of Paris moulds with nails and knives, and bathing the finished items in acid to simulate aging. Their commonest products were medallions, but others included daggers, statuettes, ampullae and even small shrines; as they were both illiterate the inscriptions on many of the objects are nonsense. They sold their forgeries to very prominent collectors of the time who thought they were genuine. Eventually, due to the large volume of objects that were appearing on the market, they were arrested and tried at court though they could not be found guilty of any crime at the time. They were released and carried on producing fakes but their style of manufacture had become well known and they eventually disappeared from history.

Comprising: a canvas copy of an important ancestral oil painting by Cornelius Jansen dated to 1637 depicting an aged female in facing pose standing within an arch with border of leaves; dark floor-length dress with ruff collar and lace cap; holding a wilted tulip in her left hand, a staff and rosary placed by her right hand; to her right, a sapling and nest with a robin, second robin standing at the base of the arch with legend 'AN.1637 / [.]LTA 73'; above right, gilt caption in capitals 'Elizabeth Lady Howard, wife to Lord William Howard, daughter and coheiress of William, Lord Dacre'; in old wooden frame with stepped reveal; old 'Philips Corby Castle' label to verso. 8.30 kg, 165 x 90.5 cm



Ex Corby Castle, Cumbria, UK, Philips sale, no.251. Property of an East Anglian gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Corby Castle is a Grade I listed building and ancestral home of a cadet branch of the prominent Howard family situated on the southern edge of the village of Great Corby in northern Cumbria, England.