Tibetan Banded Agate Prayer Bead Bracelet

Carved with a bust of a young female in three-quarter view, wearing a loose palla with one breast exposed; set into an antique gold ring. 6.05 grams, 26.23 mm overall, 19.05 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S, USA 9, Europe 20, Japan 19)



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market.

With incuse warrior naked and facing left, putto facing him, a shield propped against a tree to his rear; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 2.75 grams, 23 mm



Acquired on the European art market. Private collection, England.

Vessel of squat spherical form with a broad cylindrical neck, strap handle and foot with rolled rim, bearded face (Bartmann 'mask') and other detailing; with original contents comprising: eight iron clout nails with square-section shank and domed head; three similar with flat head; base metal dress pin with hollow-formed spherical head; similar with biconvex head; fragment of coarse-woven textile with five pins in situ; thirteen unassociated pins. 1.7 kg total, bottle: 26.5 cm



From the private collection of a London, UK, gentleman.

Witch bottles were a response to the common belief in witchcraft, which was feared in the Puritan culture of those times. The process involved heating the victim’s urine in a bottle, mixed with human hair and metal nails and pins, sometimes inserted into a cloth panel representing the victim's heart. The bottle was then either buried under the hearth of a house (East Anglian tradition) or thrown into a river (London tradition). The heating of the bottle was supposed to transfer to the body of the witch who had caused the victim to be afflicted.