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LOT 2087
Post Medieval Bronze Fire Strikers
17TH-18TH CENTURY A.D.
7 1/4 in. (190 grams total, 18.5 cm wide including stand).
Both with two large arched loops for fingers; one with a triangular, the other with a rectangular striking peen; profile formed as a ship with pointed stern and the bow ending in a volute, engraved wave pattern along the hull; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceGerman art market, before 2008.
Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00014409.
See Miller, R., The Bryant and May Museum of Fire Making Appliances. Catalogue of the Exhibits, London, 1926, fig.241, for type.
FootnotesThese fire strikers represent one of the typical shapes during the 17th and 18th centuries. They were shaped with two bows and were often decorated with a series of ornamental strokes on the side.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 2087
Post Medieval Bronze Fire Strikers
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£110 (EUR 128; USD 149) ‡+BP*
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Marlik Style Terracotta Potbearer
20th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Modelled standing and holding a bulbous spouted container in his extended hands, stylised head with projecting ears and open mouth; repaired. 1.92 kg, 30 cm
Private collection of Dr Alvin M. Soffe (c.1922-1995) and Elizabeth Ann Soffe, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, acquired circa 1960s-1970s, thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00256668. -
Gas / Petrol Station Original Poster Sign
1920-1940 A.D.Estimate: £80 - 100 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
White coarse paper poster with red printed warning notice for a petrol station; to foot 'copies from Simpsons the Printers, Friar Gate, Derby'. 22 grams, 76.2 x 50.6 cm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Harwich, UK, collector.
'Simpsons the Printers' was a local printing company specialising in postcards and photographic materials, active until the early 1960s. -
Gem-Set Masquerade Gold Ring with Love Inscription
Italy, circa 1760 A.D.Estimate: £5,000 - 7,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,500
Finely modelled with a black-and-white enamelled mask, the features animated by rose-cut diamond eyes and a small ruby set into the open mouth; the head framed by a serrated gold collet and flanked by silver foliate clusters each set with a further rose-cut diamond; the shank formed as asymmetrical rococo scrolls with pierced and chased detailing throughout, the reverse of the bezel open, revealing white enamel engraved with faint traces of an original posy inscription. 2.28 grams, 21.10 mm overall, 17.45 x 16.35 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)
The enamel remains entirely original and unrestored.
Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13321-257909.
Though now largely worn, the underside of the bezel would likely have borne a concealed love sentiment, comparable to the formula Je cache mes amours ('I mask my love'), found on related rings of mid-18th-century manufacture. The theme of the masked lover, drawn from contemporary masquerade culture and its associations with flirtation, secrecy, and clandestine courtship, here transforms the jewel into a witty and intimate token.