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LOT 2082
Painted Wooden Icon of Virgin and Child
19TH-20TH CENTURY A.D.
11 3/8 in. (614 grams, 29 cm).
Mary cradling the infant Christ, Greek text in the field with inscription 'ΜΡ ΘΥ' for 'Mother of God' flanking the Virgin's halo, 'IC XC' for 'Jesus Christ' over the Child's head; to the right a Greek inscription 'ΟΔΙΓΗΤΡΙΑ' (Odighitria); some restoration; a handwritten inscription and a cross to the reverse in Greek, reading 'Eufemia Papadimitriou - born on March, 30, 1932, on Thursday, at the 5.00 p.m.; Vasilios Papadimitriou - born on March, 15, 1934, on Thursday, at the 3.00 p.m.'
ProvenanceEx French gallery, Paris.
LiteratureCf. Łaptaś, M., Jakobielski, S., ‘I Gave Milk to Him While He Was Feeding All the World. Representations of the Galaktotrophousa in Faras Cathedral,’ in Stefan, M. (ed.), Nubia Christiana, II, Warszawa, 2020, pp.43-63, figs.2, 6, for ancient iconography of the subject.
FootnotesThe icon belongs to the category of Virgin 'Galaktotrophousa' (Γαλακτοτροφουσα, meaning “the Milk-Giver”) celebrated on third July, and showing Mary breast-feeding Jesus. The ancient typology dates from the 6th century A.D. and resided in St. Sabbas’ lavra (a type of monastic community).
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 2082
Painted Wooden Icon of Virgin and Child
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
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Neoclassical Sardonyx Cameo of Alexander the Great in Silver Ring
Late 19th-early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
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Post Medieval 'Thames' Lead Cloth Seal Group
17th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Including bag and cloth seals, a kosher food seal, an alnage seal of King George I and others; some with PAS reference numbers and find spots. 150 grams total, 15-33 mm
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Jacobean and Cromwellian Period Glazed Ceramic Miniature Fire Guards
Dated 1605 and 1654 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Each with bell-shaped socket and strap handle; one with white applied decoration including the sun with mask and two flowers with a date of 1605; the other a fragment with reconstituted elements, orange in colour with yellow slashes, star, rosette and partial date '[..]54' for 1654; one restored. 443 grams total, 15-17 cm
Fine condition, one restored.
Acquired in the 1990s. Ex property of a Suffolk collector.
1605 was the year of the 'Gunpowder Plot', a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament which was foiled when, following an anonymous tip-off, Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, found Catholic plotter Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the Parliament building and ordered a search of the area, finding thirty six barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes was arrested for trying to kill King James I and the members who were scheduled to sit together in Parliament the next day. Fawkes spoke the legendary words: 'Remember, remember, the Fifth of November'. In 1654 Oliver Cromwell created a union between England and Scotland, with Scottish representation in the Parliament of England.
