Renaissance Gemstone and Impression Group

Large oval cameo with profile bust of the Greek hero Ajax, shown bearded and with his helmet pushed up exposing his face. 27.3 grams, 48 mm



UK private collection, acquired on the French art market in the 2000s.

Ajax is recorded in The Iliad as ‘the best man among the Thracians, being both brave and of great stature’. He was one of the strongest warriors for the Achaeans, second only to his cousin Achilles. His epic duel with Hector is detailed in the seventh book of the famed poem by Homer.

Composed of coin-shaped and tubular beads, restrung. 45.8 grams, 31.5 cm



Acquired in the 1990s-early 2000s. Ex London, UK, collection.

Modelled in a half-seated pose, gazing upwards with compact body, broad forequarters, the mane rendered in long, parallel strands; the tail emerging from underneath the body and resting diagonally on top of the neck. 855 grams, 96 mm



Acquired on the European art market.

The treatment reflects the continuation of late Gothic conventions within German workshops, while also aligning with the more classicising tendencies found in North Italian bronze production of the period. The anatomical structure is simplified yet purposeful, characteristic of functional or cabinet bronzes produced across central Europe in the sixteenth century. Its scale and form correspond to small bronzes intended for Kunstkammer settings or as elements within larger composite objects such as inkstands or caskets, where the lion served as an emblem of vigilance, authority, and learned taste.