Hebrew Leather Bound Manuscript of Book of Psalms

Depicting Mary holding a lily flower with her right hand and supporting infant Jesus with her left arm; Jesus crowned by a crossed diadem and holding a gospel in his hand; background in gold thread, framed in a circular silver frame with dedicatory inscription to the reverse from a certain Alexander to the Jerusalem’s Archbishop Dositheus, reciting: + Τω ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΤΑΤω ΚΑΙ CΟΦωΤΑΤω ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗ ΙΕΡΟCΟΛΥΜωΝ ΔΟCΙΘΕω ΤΙΜΗC ΕΝΕΚΕΝ – μηνι cεπτεμβριω 1698 – Αλεξανδρος – To His Beatitude and Enlighted Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheus, as a sign of respect – September 1698 – Alexander; internal padding with floral decoration. 82 grams, 10 cm



Property 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.

The art of gold embroidery developed in Constantinople, with its own guild, and continued also after the end of the empire. Important artists like the legendary Despoineta, Mariora, Eusebia and Kokona, were famous in the 'painterly' rendering of religious subjects, not with the brush, but with the needle: red satin, and silver and gold wire created dresses, shadows, volumes with a sense of depth and sculptural quality. The artists conceived their works like a true prayer: a hope, based on human creativity.

A pair of full-length display windows carefully composed from 16th century stained glass including Northern French and Flemish roundels depicting Christian saints, crowned monograms, floral and other motifs. 20.2 kg total, 192 x 44.5 cm each



Constructed by an antiquarian connoisseur, in the late 19th century. with Galeries de Chartres, 8 March 2009. Ex central London gallery. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12559-230646. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Base metal ladle with deep bowl, thick neck and spatulate finial, slightly curved in profile; indistinct punched pellet marks to reverse of handle. 407 grams, 37.7 cm



By repute from Highclere Castle from the 1950s onwards. Acquired from Newbury Antique Emporium. Property of a Berkshire, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Property of George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866 -1923), who financed the exploratory excavations of Howard Carter which resulted in the discovery and publication of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen in the 1920s. On 19 March 1923 Carnarvon contracted blood poisoning after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with erysipelas. He died a few days later on 5 April, in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo. This unexpected and untimely death gave rise to the story of the 'Curse of the Mummy'. He is buried in a tomb at Beacon Hill, Hampshire and the family lives in Highclere Castle nearby. Highclere is the location chosen for the filming of the BBC drama series 'Downton Abbey'.