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LOT 2168
Greek Triptych Icon with Mother of God and Christ, Saint George and Other Saints
18TH CENTURY A.D.
8 in. (425 grams, 20.5 cm).
Executed in oil and tempera and gold leaf; the central panel with the veiled head of Mary with her head inclined towards the infant Jesus supported by her left hand, wearing a red maphorion mantle with elaborate golden borders, over an off-white robe, with gold cuffs; the infant facing to left, dressed in blue tunic and wrapped in a yellow shawl, right hand extended in blessing gesture, Greek inscriptions ΜΡ ΘΥ (Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ = Mother of God) flanking Mary's head, and 'ΙϹ ΧϹ' (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ = Jesus Christ) beside the infant; the side panels with icons of Saints Kosmas and Damianos (upper sections) and Saint George killing the dragon and Saint Barbara (lower sections).
ProvenanceProperty of a London, UK, gentleman collector.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Popescu, G.A., Cristiani d'Oriente, spiritualità, arte e potere nell'Europa Post-Bizantina, Milano, 1999, cat.99, for a similar triptych.
FootnotesEven after the fall of Constantinople, icons painted on wood remained the principal object of devotion for Orthodox Christians wherever the commonwealth of the Eastern Roman Empire left its traces. The painted icons are still used by the Orthodox for personal devotion, for display in churches on feast days, and to decorate the iconostasis (partition) of the church. This icon is a portable one, for domestic or travel prayers.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 2168
Greek Triptych Icon with Mother of God and Christ, Saint George and Other Saints
Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
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Post Medieval Stained Glass with Swiss Heraldic Motif
1706 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Ellipsoid panel in lead frame with heraldic arms and legend 'H[er]r Hanns Rudolf Dübe Metzger in Bern 1706' (Mr. Hans Rudolf Dübe, butcher in Bern). 127 grams, 15.2 cm
Private collection, Paris. Ex central London gallery. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Mixed Gemstone Collection
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Mainly plano-convex types with engraved intaglios of a recumbent lion, portrait bust (2) and a perching bird; offered with a rock crystal scarab with engraving to underside of three crosses and 'W'; intaglios supplied with a museum-quality impression. 6.18 grams total, 14-24 mm
From the collection of a London antiquarian, formed since the 1980s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Tudor Period Lead 'Hornbook' Writing Aid
Circa 1500-1633 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
A Tudor or Stuart period lead-alloy 'hornbook': incomplete rectangular plaque with small rectangular handle; bearing raised, moulded text on the obverse with hatched forms between four registers, which frame the letters of the alphabet 'ABCDE/FG[reversed]HIKL/MNOPq/RST[VW]XYZ'; low-relief octofoil in centre to the reverse. 51 grams, 75 mm
Found Yorkshire, UK. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The letter 'U' has been omitted from the alphabet as is common with such objects, as has the letter 'J', suggesting that the book was produced prior to the publication of Charles Butler's English Grammar (1633) which first distinguished between I and J. The letter Z is reversed. Hornbooks were employed as learning aids and commonly made from paper mounted onto wood together with a transparent sheet of horn. Smaller, more portable lead-alloy examples such as this one are generally believed to have been mass produced, whilst still falling within the genre of 'hornbooks'. Interestingly, some scholars have argued that the mistakes and inconsistencies found on lead examples rendered them less effective learning tools, used as children's toys in families with low levels of literacy, or possibly serving as dolls' accessories.
