Post Medieval Pewter Ring with Inlay

A magnificent and superb quality Victorian Gothic revival painted altar or reredos panel, as exemplified by the works and designs of Augustus Pugin, on Welsh slate depicting a large golden cross with latticed arms and squared quatrefoil terminals showing the emblems and names of the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the cross set over a circle enclosing a quatrefoil background with the main discus showing a white cross trefoil on a red expanding cross against a green background with the Christogram letters 'IHS' entwined for Jesus Christ; the design set against a dark blue field ornamented with 48 golden radiant six-pointed stars; complete with the original carved oak frame together with the carved oak projecting base plinth shelf with quatrefoil perforations and another Christogram 'IHS' within a blue oval to the central projection. 73 kg total, 134.5 cm base and 159 cm high

Fine condition.

Collection formed in the 2000s. Property of an East Anglia gentleman.

From the 4th century A.D., the vision of Ezekiel and John's Apocalypse, assigned the lion, the angel, the eagle and the ox a stable place in the iconography of the tetramorph to represent the evangelist Mark (lion) next to the calf (Luke), the angel (Matthew) and the eagle (John). They are, in Christian iconography and theology, the four winged cherubs singing the triumphal hymn, exclaiming, proclaiming, and saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth'. The oldest representations date back to the 5th century A.D., and are found in the mosaics of the baptistry of Naples and in the apse of S. Prudenziana in Rome. The tetramorph was a favourite subject in 12th century ecclesiastic art and its use has continued to the present day.

A life-size marble upper body of a young female figure, likely the goddess Venus, shrouded in a palla mantle worn over the robe and draped over the head as a hood; the left arm bent to form folds and gatherings in the cloth, the right arm shown beneath the cloth held bent to the right breast. 133 kg, 84 cm high



French collection, 1960s-early 2000s. From an important Paris gallery, France. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11687-199355.

In Roman mythology, Venus was the goddess of love, sex, beauty and fertility. Married to the god Vulcan, Venus' principal divine lover was Mars, with whom she was famously trapped in bed with a net by Vulcan. The goddess also had numerous mortal lovers - Adonis for example. The earliest known appearance of a temple dedicated to Venus was founded on the Aventine Hill in 295 B.C. She is most closely associated with the month of April, the beginning of the season of spring.

A bronze study of a reclining nymph on a draped chaise longue, nude with head tilted back and lips sensuously parted, left hand stroking her luxuriant hair, right hand lifting a fold of the cloth cover, left leg bent and held beneath the right leg, cushioned headrest with tassel; hollow to the underside; unsigned. 5.4 kg, 34 cm long



English private collection.