Late Byzantine Tinned Bronze Signet Ring with Inscription and Dove in Centre

Comprising a discoid plaque with filigree rosette to the rim, applied foil leaves and central filigree rosette; wire loop below with carnelian dangle; suspension loop with lapis lazuli, glass and gold-granule collars. 3.1 grams, 53 mm



UK private collection formed before 2000. Ex North London, UK, gallery.

With a large tongue-shaped filling hole, a wide channel with raised edges running towards the nozzle, the sides with raised palm leaf decoration; the body of the lamp decorated with raised hatched panels and linear decoration; repaired. 98 grams, 98 mm



Acquired before 1990s/early 2000s. From the family collection of Jack Lyttle (1944-2023), Kilmacolm, Scotland; thence by descent to his granddaughter. Property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.

Sub-rectangular in form with three polished faces; old handwritten label to one side reading 'Stone from Golden Gate Jerusalem July 1861'. 165 grams, 66 mm



Found Jerusalem in July 1861. UK private collection. Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman. With a late 19th century handwritten identification label attached.

The Golden Gate, so called in Christian literature, or She'ar Harahamim ('Gate of Mercy') is the oldest of the city gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located on the eastern side of the ancient city walls and it is believed that the meeting at the Golden Gate of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne took place there, an episode depicted in various pictorial cycles dedicated to the life of Saint Anne (including the one by Giotto in the Scrovegni chapel in Padua). The current gate was probably built on the ruins of the older one, in the 6th century A.D., as part of Justinian's building program. According to another theory, the construction took place at the end of the 7th century, by Roman craftsmen hired by the Umayyad caliphs.