Large Byzantine Style Agate Gemstone in Gold Pendant

The central baluster knopped column with scrolling ornament and looped carrying handle above a trefoil-shaped platform and rivetted tripod feet. 1.21 kg, 44 cm



Ex Nic McElhatton, former chairman of Christie's South Kensington. Property of a Berkshire, UK, collector. Accompanied by a copy of McElhatton's cataloguing page.

Engraved with the owner's initials ‘B G’ above a tilting shield with flanche; merchant's mark motif of capital 'A' and a cross. 20.03 grams, 28.33 mm overall, 23.00 x 18.47 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13051-248349.

Merchants' marks were chosen by their owners as a form of personal cypher, and so it is almost impossible to decipher the owner of many merchants' marks, as they were not governed by the strict regulation and recording that heraldry laws dictated. Merchants' rings were engraved with geometric symbols used to mark their goods or personal belongings and used instead of a coat of arms for those not entitled to them. Most merchants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had marks, easily identifiable and formed with a few strokes. Many such rings also bear religious or talismanic inscriptions or imagery, combining a spiritual with a commercial function. The shape of the shield on this example draws direct parallels to the heraldic shields and jewels of this period in Germany.

Of academic interest, copper coated lead seal impressions taken from cylinder seals showing various scenes, including seven with cuneiform text. 375 grams total, 39-52 mm



Possibly made by the British Museum. From a West Country, UK, private collection.