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LOT 0359
Renaissance Agate Cameo of Two Owls in Gold Ring
ITALY, 17TH CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (12.74 grams, 24.90 mm overall, 17.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M 1/2, USA 6 1/4, Europe 13.09, Japan 12)).
Comprising a D-section hoop expanding towards the open-backed setting set with a large brown agate intaglio modelled as two conjoined standing owls, the one at the front facing, and the other looking to the right, intricate feather and facial details, the cameo with a loss on the right-hand side, with the ring incorporating a fine gold repair.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.13318-257961.
See Sotheby’s Bond Street, 06 December 2016, Old Master Sculpture and Works of Art Including Highlights from the Reinhold Hofstätter Collection, London, 2016, lot 62, for similar.
FootnotesEven in the Italian Renaissance, the owl, an ancient symbol of the goddess Athena, symbolised wisdom. The owl was also a symbol of the night and death, as is so eloquently illustrated in the 17th-century painting Vanité à la chouette in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, which depicts an owl sitting on a human skull next to an extinguished candle.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0359
Renaissance Agate Cameo of Two Owls in Gold Ring
Estimate £3,000 - 4,000€3,480 - 4,640 (for guidance only)$4,050 - 5,400 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£1,500 (EUR 1,740; USD 2,025) +BP*
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Post Medieval Bronze Coins and Trade Weight Group
17th-20th century A.D.Estimate: £20 - 30 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £5
Comprising ten round and rectangular weights, including one with a crown over fleur-de-lys, one with fleur-de-lys, a square weight with profile bust, a square lead weight, and others. 59.6 grams total, 14-19 mm
Found Suffolk, UK. -
Bourbon Era Gold Devotional Pendant with Verre Eglomise Miniatures of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint John of Nepomuk
Spain, circa 1700 A.D.Estimate: £1,000 - 1,400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £500
Featuring a gold mount with twisted ropework border and scalloped edges securing bevelled glass coverings, one side depicting nimbate Saint Catherine of Alexandria wearing a pale blue dress with a red cloak, holding a gilt palm frond; the other side with Saint John of Nepomuk dressed in clerical attire and holding a gilt cross and a palm frond. 29.1 grams, 43 mm
Acquired on the European art market.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian saint and virgin who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the Emperor Maxentius. She was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years after Catherine's martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her. Saint John of Nepomuk (c. 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava River at the behest of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. Based on this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning. Verre églomisé is a French term referring to the process of applying both a design and gilding onto the rear face of glass to produce a mirror finish. The name is derived from the 18th-century French decorator and art-dealer Jean-Baptiste Glomy (1711–1786), who was responsible for its revival. Glomy's technique was a relatively simple one of applying decorative designs in a combination of plain colour and gilding, usually to glass picture frames. However, over time, it has come to be used to describe nearly any process involving back-painted and gilded glass, however elaborate. -
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Gold Fob Seal Set with Jasper Intaglio of Zeus
England, 19th century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
Comprising a fluted bezel and looped handle, set with an oval intaglio bearing a profile bust of Zeus with long hair and beard, wearing a wreath on his head; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 14.7 grams, 32 mm
Acquired on the European art market.
