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LOT 0398
Post-Classical Agate Gnostic Gemstone with Anguiped
18TH-19TH CENTURY A.D. OR EARLIER
1 in. (3.41 grams, 23 mm).
Incuse motif of serpent-legged rooster facing left holding a shield and solar whip; enigmatic agical inscriptions surrounding; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
ProvenanceCollection of Mr and Mrs V.A., Monte Carlo, 1960s.
Acquired on the European art market.
Private collection, England.
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AUCTIONS:
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Tibetan Glass Necklace Prayer Bead Group
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Including glass bicone and spherical beads zi banded and gilt spacer beads. 72 grams, 80 cm
Private collection, UK. -
Post Medieval Gold Memento Mori Ring with Skull
17th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
Ellipsoid plaque with wreath border enclosing an incuse skull in three-quarter view and initials 'RW' below. 7.73 grams, 21.01 mm overall, 19.06 x 18.44 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R, USA 8 1/2, Europe 18 3/4, Japan 18)
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 a search certificate number no.13046-248360.
The memento mori jewellery of the 16th and 17th centuries served as wearable ‘reminders of mortality’. Typical motifs within this genre included skulls, skeletons, crossbones, hourglasses, coffins, the gravedigger’s pick and shovel, and various other emblems of death and decay. -
Tudor Period Silver Ring with 'Amuletic' Toad Stone
Western Europe, 16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
Round-section hoop supporting a discoid bezel, claw setting with inset 'toadstone' amulet. 4.53 grams, 29.85 mm overall, 20.51 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)
Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the French art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13074-248390.
William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, circa. 1599; ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears a precious jewel in his head yet’. Toadstones are mythical stones that were thought to be found inside the head of a toad. They were believed to sweat, change colour or even heat up in the presence of poison. It was thought that a toadstone placed on bites from snakes, insects, spiders and shrews would extract poison from the wound. They were thought to bring good luck and ward off evil, whether in the present life or in the afterlife. The Book of Secrets from the 13th century recommends swallowing the stone to 'cleanse the bowels of filth and excrements'. The stone could then be retrieved and used again. They were often set as amulets and talismans, a practice that continued in Europe until the 18th century. Toadstones are actually the button-like fossilised teeth of Lepidotes, an extinct genus of fish common in the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, 200 to 100 million years ago.
