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LOT 0372
Renaissance Gold and Enamelled Crucifix Pendant
SPAIN, 16TH CENTURY A.D.
3 in. (8.56 grams, 75 mm).
The limp body of Christ hanging from the cross, wearing an enamelled loincloth, the bones of Adam at his feet; above his head a plaque mocking the saviour, hung by Pilate with the initials ‘INRI’, an abbreviation of the Latin ‘Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum’, translating as 'Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews’; carefully rendered three-dimensional cross imitating the grain, knots and stumps of the wood, a baroque pearl suspended from both arms and the base of the cross.
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.13402-257995.
See a similar example sold by Sotheby’s, London, European Sculpture & Works of Art, 4th December 2013, Lot 58.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0372
Renaissance Gold and Enamelled Crucifix Pendant
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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Russian Orthodox Enamelled Bronze Travel Icon with Scenes of the Life of the Prophet Elijah
19th century A.D.Estimate: £180 - 240 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £85
With blue champlevé enamel, depicting scenes of the life of Prophet Elijah: on the bottom right Elijah rolling up his mantle and dividing the waters of the Jordan, in front of his disciple Elisha; on the bottom left Elijah watched over by the Angel; on the top right Elijah ascending to heaven on a Chariot of Fire, assisted by the hand of God; on the left Elijah, covered by his mantle, fed by ravens; frame with blue enamel over gilded pseudo-vegetal decorations. 585 grams, 14.3 cm
Acquired from Chris Martin-Zakheim, Iconastas, 5 Piccadilly Arcade, London SW1. From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.
The icon represents the Ascension of the prophet Elijah and other scenes from his life. Elijah is ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by horses, leaving his mantle to his disciple Elisha, symbolising the transmission of his prophetic mission. Among the great figures of the Bible, the prophet Elijah was one of the most venerated figures in Orthodoxy. -
Spanish Silver-Gilt Cross Pendant
20th century A.D.Estimate: £30 - 40 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £5
Hollow-formed with hexagonal-section arms, each with a raised collar bearing an incised legend 'ME DU CI TO CE LOS' and granule finial; granules between the arms; blackletter legend 'CLUNY' vertically and 'a vol duci' horizontally; suspension ring. 33.32 grams, 59 mm
Ex Cornish collection, UK. Property of a London, UK, antiquarian.
The Abbaye de Cluny is a site of pilgrimage, a former Benedictine monastery. -
Chalcedony and Silver-Gilt Bust of the Emperor Vespasian
Italy, 17th-18th century A.D.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
The head, carved from pale green chalcedony, polished to a smooth lustre and with a drilled aperture at the crown, the hair in tight curls around the nape and crown; the silver-gilt torso dressed in a draped toga carefully chased with deep folds and traces of gilding across the high points; mounted on a later patinated bronze column stand in the neoclassical manner. 208 grams total, 10.9 cm high including stand
Acquired on the European art market.
This small-scale portrait evokes the Roman tradition of imperial portraiture and the early modern fascination with the ancient world. From the seventeenth century onwards, artists and collectors revived classical subjects through hardstone and gilt-metal compositions, often intended for display in Kunstkammer or Grand Tour contexts. The combination of a reused ancient or earlier element with a later mount was a practice typical of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, reflecting the period’s reverence for antiquity and its imaginative recontextualisation of ancient forms.