LOT 0325

Medieval Gilt Bronze Statue of the Act of Almsgiving

ENGLAND, 12TH CENTURY A.D.

1 3/4 in. (2 5/8 in.) (26 grams, 43 mm (284 grams total, 68 mm including stand)).

Featuring a standing figure extending a purse to a kneeling supplicant, an allegory of almsgiving, preserving substantial traces of its original gilding, this rare Romanesque figural group likely formed part of a larger liturgical object such as a portable altar, reliquary, or candlestick; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.

By repute to have originated from Romney Marsh, Kent.
From the collection of Paul Moore.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13324-257971.

Cf. Sotheby’s, The Robert von Hirsch Collection, 22 June 1978, London, 1978, Lot 210 (Romanesque candlestick fragment); Lasko, P., Ars Sacra, 800–1200, Harmondsworth, 1972, pls. 106–108; Gaborit’, J.R., (ed.), Art Roman au Louvre,Paris, 1996, pp. 119–125, for gilt-bronze figures and crucifixes of the 12th century, highlighting the integration of narrative and allegorical detail in small-scale Romanesque metalwork; Sotheby’s, New York, Master Sculpture and Works of Art, 7 February 2025, New York, 2025 Lot 613 (Mosan gilt bronze figure, c.1150– 1160).

The work finds close parallels in the Romanesque metalwork of England. Its figural treatment and iconographic resonance invite comparison with the celebrated Gloucester Candlestick (c.1107– 1113, Victoria & Albert Museum, inv. M.268-1921), where densely modelled figures act out moral and allegorical themes within a functional ecclesiastical object; with the Romanesque candlestick fragment from the Robert von Hirsch Collection (Sotheby’s, London, 22 June 1978, Lot 210); and with the broader corpus of English and German candlesticks and crosiers discussed by Peter Lasko in Ars Sacra, 800–1200 (1972), which demonstrate the intimate relationship between liturgical function and densely figurative decoration. Cf. also Victoria and Albert Museum, London: The Gloucester Candlestick, c.1107–1113 (inv. M.268-1921).