Miscellaneous Vintage Pin Badge Collection

With dentilled edges to the bifid shoulders and fusiform spurs above, lateral bars supporting a tall square-section openwork bezel with inset rose-cut diamond; indistinct maker's mark. 3.96 grams, 26.47 mm overall, 16.64 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L 1/2, USA 6, Europe 11.87, Japan 11)



Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Private collection, London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

With D-section hoop, openwork motif on each side of an oval bezel with half-round skull; engraving 'MEMENTO MORI' to the forehead. 31.33 grams, 35.34 mm overall, 19.25 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)



From a private collection, Warwickshire, UK. Property of a Buckinghamshire, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Tempera on wood panel depicting the Archangel Michael standing on a red cushion in the guise of a guardian angel, holding a drawn sword in his right hand and a scabbard in his other hand; the face with a brown base, features formed in shades of tan and beige with white highlights on a terracotta and deep green background. 3.5 kg, 70 x 38 cm with frame



Acquired on the European art market. Private collection, London, UK. 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 a search certificate number no.12844-240885. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Even after the fall of Constantinople, icons painted on wood remained the principal object of devotion for Orthodox Christians both within the former borders of Byzantium and wherever the commonwealth of the Eastern Roman Empire left its traces. The painted icons are still today used by the Orthodox for personal devotion, for display in churches on feast days, and to decorate the iconostasis (partition) of the church, i.e. the dividing wall erected in front of the Bema, where the sacred altar of the Apse is collocated. The Archangel Michael was the commander of the Heavenly Host, and venerated by military men and the common people as one of the most powerful protector saints.