Roman Style Gold Ring with Portrait Cameo

A Georgian-era 15 carat gold and silver 'poison' ring, composed of a slender hoop of scrolls and crescents with a plain panel at the base, expanding shoulders formed as openwork foliate flourishes set with small stones; oval cluster bezel set with a central cushion-cut emerald weighing approximately 4.06 cts, held in a pierced setting with twisted gold wire collar, and surrounded by rose-cut diamonds; hinged bezel revealing a secret compartment beneath, the reverse domed and engraved with a stylised shell motif. 10.02 grams, 28.41 mm overall, 17.91 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14)



Acquired from Platt Boutique Jewelry, Inc., West Hollywood, California, USA, 2016. Property of an East Sussex collector. Accompanied by a copy of the Platt Boutique Jewelry invoice. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11668-197586.

'Poison rings' became popular in Europe during the 16th century, and Lucrezia Borgia is popularly believed to have used one. The compartment within the bezel was used to conceal poison, a lock of hair or other substances.

A bronze figure of a satyr standing on a hexagonal base wearing a goatskin mantle tied by the forelegs around his shoulders, with poppy seed-heads and bunches of grapes by the left arm; in his raised right hand, a bunch of grapes and in his left hand a cudgel; stump of a tree by his right leg and barrel beside his left, with a lamb to the rear placing its foreleg on top; modelled after the so-called Fauno Rosso from Hadrian's Villa, now in the Capitoline Museum. 18.5 kg, 67 cm high



From an important Paris gallery, France.

Half-man, half-beast, satyrs were believed to be the children of goats and mountain nymphs. Followers of the god Dionysus, they had a reputation for drunkenness and spent their days participating in orgiastic rituals. They represented the crude and boisterous facets of the stereotypical male persona, particularly of rural man.

A repoussé bronze plaque presenting a Christian religious scene with Christ seated in majesty above nimbate apostles, Saint Paul and Saint Peter at the centre; gilt border and wooden frame. 1.3 kg, 40 x 40 cm



English private collection.