Hardstone Cameo of a Muse in Ring

Depicting the Deesis divided in three panels, with Jesus Christ at the centre, Saint Mary on the left panel and Saint John the Baptist on the right; God holding the Gospel in his left hand and raising his right hand in blessing; Mary with veiled head and mantle, wearing a maphorion mantle over an embroidered robe and holding a scroll; Saint John, portrayed as an elderly man, wearing a camel-skin robe, winged and holding a bowl containing an infant with flexed legs and raised right hand, the saint’s right hand pointing toward the infant Jesus, his left hand holding a scroll with the prophecy of Isaiah, while the right hand is raised in blessing gesture; Old Slavic inscription around the figures: 'ΙC ΧΡ' (Jesus Christ); 'ΜΡ ϴΥ'(Mother of God), ‘Saint John the Precursor’ (Иоа́нн Предте́ча); the images framed by a pseudo-vegetal and abstract decorations; the instruments of the Passion and the city of Jerusalem on the cover. 553 grams, 10 cm



Ex David Miller, Hemel Hempstead, London, UK. From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.

The Deisis or Deesis (Деисус, Gk. for “supplication”) was the depiction of the Virgin, John the Baptist and possibly many more saints interceding with Christ on behalf of mankind.

Off-white ground with dark blue masthead 'Meldoy Maker / World's Largest Net Sale ' red blocked text and dark blue footer 'Every Friday - 6d'; footnote 'Printed and issued by Odhams Press, Long Acre, London WC2'. 22 grams, 76.2 x 50.6 cm



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Harwich, UK, collector.

'Melody Maker' was an important music-industry weekly magazine which was founded in 1926 by the publisher Lawrence Wright, aimed at dance band musicians under the title 'The Melody Maker and British Metronome'. The footnote reference is to the Odhams publishing venture which folded in 1968.

Carved in two-coloured red and brown agate, depicting a classical muse in right-facing profile with flowing hair, and drapery, the laurel wreath identifying her as an embodiment of poetic or artistic inspiration; the cameo set in a 19th-century mount with a border of single-cut diamonds set in platinum, a pierced, open-backed construction and bifurcated shoulders enriched with classical leaf motifs. 6.47 grams, 25.88 mm overall, 16.12 mm internal diameter (approximate size British J 1/2, USA 5, Europe 9.32, Japan 9)



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13327-257906.

The union of an eighteenth-century Italian gem engraving with a later English mount reflects a broader nineteenth-century practice of integrating earlier engraved gems into newly conceived settings.