Medieval Bronze Seal Matrix with Pair of Birds

Carved in high relief, limestone scene depicting Saint Martin of Tours on horseback with his sword raised to cut off a portion of his military cloak to share it with a beggar; the saint wearing articulated armour buckled at his forearms and on hs lower leg, with a billowing cloak draped across his shoulders; the horse shown in a contrapposto stance with one forleg raised, with ornamental caparison and harness pendants; the beggar depicted with emaciated form wearing only underclothes, hands pressed together in supplication; to the reverse, traces of original fixing to a wall or architectural setting; restored. 108 kg, 78.5 cm high



Ex Richard Chester Master, Cirencester, UK. Kate Thurlow & Robin Thompson Collection, 21 October 1998. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13384-259005.

The subject derives from the episode recorded by Sulpicius Severus in his Vita Sancti Martini (c. 397 A.D.), in which the young Roman soldier Martin, stationed at Amiens, divided his cloak to share it with a freezing beggar; that same night, he dreamt that Christ appeared to him wearing the half of the garment which he had given away. Martin subsequently converted to Christianity and eventually became Bishop of Tours, where he was venerated as one of the most important saints of early medieval Western Europe; his feast day is celebrated on 11th November. The present relief belongs to a tradition of Flemish devotional sculpture that flourished in the 15th century, when the prosperous towns of the Low Countries — Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and Mechelen — became pre-eminent centres of religious carving exported across Northern Europe. Comparable examples to this piece are held in the collections of the Musée de Cluny, Paris, and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

With a D-shaped buckle frame with a narrowed and offset bar, moulded knops decorated with a series of covering raised pellets at each end of the bar; a D-section pin fitted around the bar by an open loop, with a raised circumferential collar present at the junction of the loop and shaft of the pin. 1.93 grams, 14 mm



Found by Jason Ashley whilst searching with a metal detector near Overton, Hambleton, North Yorkshire, UK, in 2025. Accompanied by a copy of the Report for H M Coroner on find of Potential Treasure with Treasure reference no.2025T1065. Accompanied by a copy of a letter from the British Museum disclaiming the Crown's interest in the find. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.YORYM-EF238A.

Featuring a narrow hoop and expanding shoulders, a conical bezel with four petals, set with a pale purple glass gem. 1.64 grams, 23.82 mm overall, 17.73 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N 1/2, USA 6 3/4, Europe 14.35, Japan 13)



From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.