Medieval Bronze Lion of Saint Mark Mount from a Processional Cross

Quatrefoil-type with integral loop and broad lobes; niello surface with reserved image of a bowman (right) with arrow nocked and one arm bent, advancing towards a stag (left) with tined antlers, an arrow having pierced it through the neck; scene divided by a median vertical tree with three radiating boughs. 11.36 grams, 38 mm



Found by Robert Wiseman in Longdon, Worcestershire, UK, circa 2015, next to a trackway leading to St John the Baptist church that was built by the military order of the Knights Hospitaller in the 12th century. Recorded with Mark Lodwick of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK.

Described by Phil Parkes, the conservator at the National Museum of Wales, as the best of its type that he had ever seen or worked on to clean and preserve, in 30 years.

Comprising: a coiled ring with a coiled bezel; a ring with a raised oval bezel with linear motifs; two rings with an incuse motif on the bezel; two rings with recessed cells to accept an insert. 21.97 grams total, 19-26 mm



Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

A similar cast ring with a silver sheet and notched decoration was found in the Necropolis of Zabran, Zemun, and dated 10th-15th century A.D. These rings were often decorated with geometric and abstract lines.

Square in plan and flat in section with saw-cut teeth to two edges. 22.9 grams, 59 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.