Irish Leather Powder Flask with Brass Fittings

Pink wax cameo depicting winged Eros on the back of a rearing hippocamp emerging from the waves, set on a black composite backing with a glass frame. 2.32 grams, 24 mm



Acquired on the European art market.

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.

Finely carved, high-relief cameo depicting profile bust of the goddess, wearing a plumed helmet with the crest supported by a winged Pegasus, her hair modelled in soft curls framing the face and falling over the shoulder above articulated lorica (battle armour); small grape-shaped earrings and multiple necklaces carefully rendered, creating an appealing contrast between martial attributes and feminine ornament; set in an unmarked, high-carat gold frame, probably struck and finished in England after the gem’s return from the Grand Tour, two lateral suspension loops. 14.98 grams, 36 mm



Acquired on the European art market.

The relief shows confident toolwork: crisp contours to the facial profile, detailed treatment of the helmet and feathers, and subtle gradations of planes between the figure and the background.