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LOT 1959
Russian Orthodox Enamelled Bronze Travel Icon with the Birth of the Virgin
19TH CENTURY A.D.
3 7/8 in. (230 grams, 98 mm).
Presenting an architectural setting with figures in two chambers framed with cornices, columns and furnitures; the upper chamber showing Saint Anna in birthing bed with two attendants; the lower room with two attendants bathing an infant; on the right Saint Joachim seated upon a cathedra; Old Slavonic inscription reciting ‘The birth of the most holy mother of God’.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.
Cf. Eighme Ahlborn, R., Beaver-Bricken Espinola, V., Russian Copper Icons and crosses from the Kunz Collection: Castings of Faith, Washington, 1991, nos.25819.174 and 25819.251, pp.68,75, for similar iconography.
FootnotesAccording to the Protoevangelium of James, Mary's parents were called Anna and Joachim and conceived Mary at a late age.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1959
Russian Orthodox Enamelled Bronze Travel Icon with the Birth of the Virgin
Estimate £150 - 200€170 - 230 (for guidance only)$200 - 270 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£70 (EUR 81; USD 95) +BP*
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Silver-Gilt Mounted Jet 'Figa' Amulet
Spain, 17th century A.D.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £300
Formed as a hand showing figa gesture, silver mount with applied twisted wires; attachment loop and ring to the top. 19.6 grams, 56 mm
Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market.
Mano Fico, as protective amulets, have been used since antiquity. It was believed to protect from the evil eye and other dark and magical forces and to promote fertility. In ancient Rome, the fig sign, or mano fico, was made by the pater familias (father of the family) to ward off the evil spirits of the dead as a part of the Lemuria ritual. The ancient Greeks wore amulets of the gesture around the neck to protect from the evil eye, and also used the gesture in artwork. What they considered an overtly sexual gesture was expected to distract evil spirits from causing harm. The pendant would have been worn from a belt or from a chatelaine containing other protective talismans. This carving would have served as a token representing a person's pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, one of the very few places in which jet can be found and mined since at least the Middle Ages. -
Renaissance Sardonyx Cameo of a Young Woman
Italy, 16th century A.D.Estimate: £1,000 - 1,400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £500
High-relief bust of a young lady facing right, her curly hair neatly pulled back to a chignon at the nape of her neck, jewelled diadem resting on top of the head; mounted in an unmarked high-carat gold brooch setting dating to the 19th century. 9.59 grams, 30 mm
Acquired on the European art market. -
Bedouin Silver-Coloured Metal Ring with Gemstone
20th century A.D.Estimate: £50 - 70 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Hoop expanding at the shoulders with linear motifs, set with a glass cabochon. 9.36 grams, 31.70 mm overall, 21.07 mm internal diameter (approximate size British W 1/2, USA 11 1/4, Europe 25.66, Japan 24)
London, UK, collection, 1980s-1990s.
