Reproduction North American Obsidian Arrowhead Group

Group of three love tokens, each a sixpence coin bent into a double-curved profile; one pierced and with initials to each face. 7.45 grams total, 20 mm each



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.

The custom of giving a bent coin as a love-token is known from the 17th century in England. The coins were usually smoothed to obliterate the monarch’s head and then bent twice; sometimes they were engraved with initials or symbols such as hearts or knots. If the sweetheart accepted the youth's advances, she kept the token; if not, she disposed of the coin. The tradition is referred to in the children's rhyme "There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, he found a crooked sixpence on a crooked stile."

Showing figures in an architectural setting, water and landscape beyond; possibly two female attendants, one holding a torch, the other keeping guard, assisting their mistress who has ventured out at dusk to meet her lover; set in a reveal within a glazed wooden frame. 528 grams, 32.5 x 23.5 cm

Very fine condition.

Acquired on the UK art market, 1980s-1990s. The Woodbridge collection of Indo-Persian art.

Irregular panel with lead frame, detailed portrait of a bearded male with short hair, wearing a shirt with folding collar and dentilled hem, repaired. 188 grams, 23 cm



De Baecque Vente, Paris, France, 5 March 2022, no.58. Ex central London gallery.