Medieval Ring with Pentagram

Matched pair of carved stone corbels, each a mythical beast with a rounded body, bat-like wings folded behind the back, long arched neck and reptilian head with gaping mouth; mounted on an integral square-section base with stepped rear face; socket to forward face with bronze insert; some surface accretions. 400 kg total, 118 -121.5 cm



Private collection, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13385-259013.

From the Romanesque era onwards, images of demons, often carved on the external sides of cathedrals and churches, were strongly linked to the fantastical and monstrous creatures of ancient myth and legend. For theologians, supernatural creatures which could not otherwise be explained were not of God and therefore had to be demonic: their incorporation in the ecclesiastic structures showed that their malevolent powers could be kept under control only through the protection of the church. This origin of Christian demons is likely to have influenced the visual representation in medieval culture as hybrid and monstrous, especially given the increased interest in Greek works from the twelfth century onwards in the West.

With a wide hoop and an oval bezel with an eight-petalled flower on a pointillé-decorated field. 5.92 grams, 21.49 mm overall, 19.25 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)



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

Carved stylised elephant with elongated ears supporting a palanquin in the form of a castle with a carved cross, foliage motif to the reverse; mounted on a velvet-covered stand. 1.31 kg total, 34.2 cm including stand



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13088-248391.

The image of an elephant carrying warriors in a howdah originated from Alexander the Great's battle against King Porus's war elephants at the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC. This motif became widely known in European art through the spread of Bestiaries which were medieval texts combining natural history with moralising Christian stories. One of the most well known was Matthew Paris’s imagined depictions of elephants, most notable in this case is his war elephant illustrated in Chronica maiora II, circa 1240-1255 (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 016II). Another well known manuscript - The Rochester Bestiary, circa 1230-1240 (British Library, London, Royal MS 12 F.xiii) contains a miniature with a war elephant in the midst of battle, above another image of elephants supposedly in their natural habitat. Since very few live elephants were seen in Europe during the medieval period, their representations were often more imaginative than realistic. Other Medieval bench end carvings of elephants in English churches are known, amongst them are: St Peter and St Paul, Tuttington, Norfolk; St Andrew, South Lopham, Norfolk; St Edmund, South Burlingham, Norfolk; St Andrew, Holme Hale, Norfolk. Elephants can also be found on misericords, some examples can be found at: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Exeter; Cathedral Church of St Peter, Gloucester; and St Mary's Church, Beverley.