Tibetan Brass Hip Flask

Formed as a left hand with flange rim to the cuff and wrist, ring to the third finger; stud to the reverse with geralfic seal, heater shield with helmet and lambrequin, underside with stud and profile bust. 453 grams, 13.5 cm



Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, England. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13087-249670.

In the 17th century, Italian noble seals were crucial heraldic instruments, depicting family crests, often surmounted by crowns (counts, marquises, princes) or helmets, and enriched with family specific symbols (e.g., vines for the Panevinos), portraits on horseback, or elements linked to ecclesiastical offices (papal keys) to authenticate documents, reflecting the prestige and authority of noble houses and civic patricians.

Engraved with the owner's initials ‘B G’ above a tilting shield with flanche; merchant's mark motif of capital 'A' and a cross. 20.03 grams, 28.33 mm overall, 23.00 x 18.47 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13051-248349.

Merchants' marks were chosen by their owners as a form of personal cypher, and so it is almost impossible to decipher the owner of many merchants' marks, as they were not governed by the strict regulation and recording that heraldry laws dictated. Merchants' rings were engraved with geometric symbols used to mark their goods or personal belongings and used instead of a coat of arms for those not entitled to them. Most merchants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had marks, easily identifiable and formed with a few strokes. Many such rings also bear religious or talismanic inscriptions or imagery, combining a spiritual with a commercial function. The shape of the shield on this example draws direct parallels to the heraldic shields and jewels of this period in Germany.

Composed of biconical beads interspersed with small metal beads, five lion-shaped amulets; restrung. 40.2 grams, 40.6 cm



From London, UK, gallery collection, 1990s.