Medieval and Later Bronze Buckle Collection

Carved naturalistically in the round as a mature male figure with short wavy hair, full beard and moustache, his brow furrowed and mouth held slightly ajar; repaired. 3.8 kg, 18 cm



Acquired in Europe before 1996. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11809-206816.

The head was carved as an image of a saint, Apostle or a prophet. The accomplished and sophisticated style of carving on this head can be compared to some of the most celebrated Romanesque buildings of Southern France. The carving of the head resembles the representations of heads and faces of 12th century French Romanesque art, for example those of Saint Trophime in Arles. This imposing head once served as an important architectural part of a lavishly decorated church, possibly in western France. Its form and the size suggest that the head was not only decorative but that it would have been structurally important – perhaps part of a row of statues of apostles and prophet like those depicted on the Saint Trophime façade.

With wooden core to which the embossed sheets have been attached; the obverse with a central nimbate Corpus Christi, an applied rosette above and to the left arm; an angel to the finial of the upper and lower arm with Mary and St John the Evangelist to the side arms; the reverse with a central figure of Jesus holding the Gospel and making the sign of blessing; each finial of the arm with the symbols of the Evangelists (eagle, angel, lion and ox); the cross resting on a floral sphere with a socket below. 920 grams, 52.5 cm

Some damage and repair.

with Adolphe Goumaz, Pully, Switzerland. Ex private collection. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11804-206500.

The metal sheets of the cross seem to be 15th century A.D. North Italian work. The four Evangelists are depicted with a human face at the front of the cross, and in animal forms at the reverse.

Including glazed vessels of various types: tripod pots, dishes, platters, together with a decorated fragment; chipped and cracked. 4.15 kg total, 14.5-33.5 cm



Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.

The majority of ceramics here presented are kitchen wares. Usually cooking pots are the most numerous forms in the majority of medieval contexts. They are mostly related to domestic functions, cooking pots being used to boil food or fry it. They come in different sizes and have globular bodies, everted rims and one or two handles. Ceramics from Dundee, Scotland, and Southampton, confirm that one of the most common vessel types employed among 1490-1510 A.D. was the tripod pipkin, with globular body, rounded base, three legs and a single or double handle, like the specimen here visible. These specimens were very often redware pottery imported from the Low Countries.