Large Indus Valley Style Painted Zebu Bull

Depicting Saint Zosima and Saint Sabbas in front of the Solovetsky Monastery, both nimbate and dressed in the Abbot’s garments, holding the model of the monastery offered to God, represented in the sky as a dove upon a cloud; arabesque frame; inscriptions in Old Slavonic with the names of the saints. 108 grams, 88 mm



Acquired from Chris Martin-Zakheim, Iconastas, 5 Piccadilly Arcade, London SW1. From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.

Saints Zosima and Sabbas or Sabbatius were highly venerated Orthodox saints, founders of the Solovetsky Monastery, a fortified monastery located in the White Sea in Northern Russia. This double portrait shows Zosima and Sabbas holding up a model of their religious institution, which resembles a small medieval city. Solovetsky Monastery obtained big investments from the city of Novgorod and established itself as one of the richest monasteries in Russia.

Depicting Neptune advancing nude from a scallop shell, holding a trident in one hand and pointing with the other; billowing banner to his rear; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 15.19 grams, 31.43 mm overall, 19.60 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R, USA 8 1/2, Europe 18 3/4, Japan 18)



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 search certificate number no.13053-248373.

Throughout Europe, and far beyond, talented gem-cutters were at work in the 19th century. Neptune was appreciated by Neoclassical cutters, as shown by a carnelian gemstone with the profile of Neptune, his face serene amidst a storm, by the American engraver George Hewitt Cushman (1814-1876).

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.