Medieval Niello Inlaid Bronze Purse Bar

With slender round-section hoop supporting a discoid bezel with incuse stylised fleur-de-lys. 2.02 grams, 21.27mm overall, 18.62mm internal diameter (approximate size British R, USA 8 1/2, Europe 18 3/4, Japan 18)



English collection, 1980s. Acquired on the UK art market. Ex property of an Essex gentleman. Ex private Merseyside, UK, collection.

Shield-shaped, discoid and rectangular in broad form, displaying floral, star and other enigmatic motifs. 609 grams total, 35-58 mm



Ex Simmons Gallery, London E11, UK, in the 1990s. From a North London collection.

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.