Medieval Gilt Bronze Knight's Heraldic Horse Harness Mount with Manticore

The broad hoop with convex outer face and faux twisted body ornament, stylised lion advancing right too bezel. 19.16 grams, 28.28 mm overall, 18.88 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q 1/2, USA 8 1/4, Europe 18.12, Japan 17)



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

From an architectural column with a square upper face developing to a rounded base; a decorative frieze carved in the half-round depicting two seated lions, each with its tail looped around its lower body, supporting a pedestal on which a facing bust of a young boy is resting. 25.7 kg, 36 cm

Good condition

with Piasa, 7 June 2013, lot 17. Ex central London gallery. 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.11738-202062.

The form of the capital and the shape of the beasts are similar to those sculptures that survive in churches on the pilgrimage route to Santiago da Compostela – namely in Southern France and Northern Spain, but the bodies of the lions have many correspondences with the capital sculptures of Poitou. The lions were considered to be guardians against evil and the image of the young boy is probably a representation of the prophet Daniel. There is a similar capital in the Church of d'Airvault (Deux-Sèvres) also ornamented with lions and a human head.

Most glazed and from various vessel types, including examples with handles and coloured glaze. 15 kg total, 4-25.5 cm



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