Renaissance Shell Cameo Collection

Large paper advertising poster in five tones depicting a country town with a mix of weatherboard, brick-built and Georgian shops and buildings, figures and horses; to bottom left 'Gregory Brown / 38'; title 'Old Country Towns in Southern England' over 'via Southampton Docks or the short sea routes of the Southern Railway'; bottom right 'Printed in Great Britain by Waterlow and Sons, London and Dunstable'; linen backed. 931 grams, 134 x 108.5 cm



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Harwich, UK, collector.

F. Gregory Brown was a commercial artist who inspired a generation of designers and helped to improve the quality of pre-war advertising in Britain. 'Old Country Towns' was one of Brown’s last works, printed just before his death aged 54 in 1941.

D-section hoop and an oval bezel set with a grey banded agate cameo featuring a mature man in three-quarter view facing left, furrowed brow and short-cropped curly hair. 4.69 grams, 27.33 mm overall, 18.81 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q 1/2, USA 8 1/2, Europe 18.12, Japan 17)



Acquired on the European art market.

Rectangular slab with raised border and high-relief scene; three standing females wearing floor-length draped and tiered robes, holding hands; the left figure with right hand extended slightly, holding out the folds of her robe, head turned back towards the middle figure whose hand she holds; middle figure facing with diadem in her neatly dressed hair, holding the extended hand of the third figure holding the hem of her robe and angled stiffly away from the others. 145 kg total including stand, 106.5 cm wide



Private collection, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13391-259010.

A group of three young females is often interpreted as the Three Graces. However, in classical art, these three figures usually stand close together and are nude or sparsely clothed - unlike the females in this carving. Groups of three goddesses - such as Persephone, Demeter and Hekate - may denote the phases of the moon or, more broadly, the three phases of a female life as maiden / mother/ elder. The scene bears some resemblance to the 1st century AD relief of 'Three dancing nymphs' in Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California; however, that has a more exuberant and lively air contrasted with the rigid formality of the piece.