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_900x900.jpg "Gold Engraved Touchpiece")
_200x200.jpg "Gold Engraved Touchpiece")
.jpg "Gold Engraved Touchpiece")
LOT 1801
Gold Engraved Touchpiece
17TH CENTURY A.D. OR EARLIER
3/4 in. (5.53 grams, 17 mm).
Barrel-shaped with two impressed flat faces, one with a later engraving of a guilloche border and looped tendrils framing reserved initials 'PO P[R]' above and lower 'NU [.]M'; possibly a touchpiece or love token. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired since the 1970s.
From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Accompanied by a copy of the article 'A Roman or Anglo-Saxon Fertility Amulet?' published in Treasure Hunting Magazine.
Harfellet, Geoffrey, A Roman or Anglo-Saxon Fertility Amulet?, Treasure Hunting Magazine, April 2018, p.15.
FootnotesThe design is reserved and very faint; the outer guilloche is quite convincing but the details of the design are hard to determine, and may always have been quite indistinct. The impression is of a 17th century love token with the initials of the couple. The finder's article implies an Anglo-Saxon date, probably on the strength of the guilloche which was often use on early Saxon metalwork - but it is a long-lived motif and not specific to that one period.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Silver Reliquary Pendant
17th century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £514
Presenting a scalloped frame and bifacial black enamelled detailing: one side with the Crucifixion scene, niello 'IC XC' in the field, two saints at the foot of the cross, scrolling borders; the reverse with 'IC XC / NI KA' over two lines with cross between; articulate and facetted loop. 30.9 grams, 51 mm
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A small reliquary pendant, possibly containing the remains of cloth or bone of a saint. The relics had to be kept in containers that expressed the dignity of their contents: chests, cases and, of course, reliquaries. This also applied to personal relics, often in the form of pendants, which were sometimes made in gold and silver.
