Tudor Period Bronze 'Knuckle Duster' Ring

Modelled in a half-seated pose, gazing upwards with compact body, broad forequarters, the mane rendered in long, parallel strands; the tail emerging from underneath the body and resting diagonally on top of the neck. 855 grams, 96 mm



Acquired on the European art market.

The treatment reflects the continuation of late Gothic conventions within German workshops, while also aligning with the more classicising tendencies found in North Italian bronze production of the period. The anatomical structure is simplified yet purposeful, characteristic of functional or cabinet bronzes produced across central Europe in the sixteenth century. Its scale and form correspond to small bronzes intended for Kunstkammer settings or as elements within larger composite objects such as inkstands or caskets, where the lion served as an emblem of vigilance, authority, and learned taste.

Modelled in the round figure of Victory standing on a rectangular base, with a palla draped from her shoulders and hips; wings spread to the rear (one tip absent); arms extended as if supporting a patera or similar item. 422 grams, 11.8 cm



Previously belonging to J Stewart, Mayfair, London, UK; acquired in the early 1980s. Property of a Middlesex gentleman.

Comprising monochrome gloss prints of NASA launches: an astronaut walking through a crowd of air force and navy personnel, endorsed 'NASA For Release February 22, 1962. NASA Photo no. 62-MA6-121. Cape Canaveral, FLA Aboard USS Randolph Astronaut John H. Glenn walks down the aircraft carrier's hangar deck following world orbital flight.'; rocket on launchpad in flames, endorsed 'Nasa Photo Unclassified 3-2-65 Nasa/Centaur. Cape Kennedy, FLA : 8:25 A.M. EST. March 2. 1966. The fifth experimental Atlas Centaur launch vehicle lifted off the pad, and the main stage prematurely cut off, causing the vehicle to fall back on the pad and explode.'; rocket leaving launchpad, endorsed 'U.S.Air Force Photo / Air Force Eastern T[est] Range / Photographic lLboratory Operated by [Y}CA. / P-66-75271 8/25/66 C[.]YA, Titan... Lift off of Titan ...Unclassified'; rocket on launchpad, endorsed 'NASA For Release: December 12, 1970 / Photo No. 70-H-1641 70-HC-1160 ... Kenya, Africa -- Italy to launch U.S. satellite - The first American satellite to be launched by another country will be placed in Earth orbit by a team of Italian space engineers operating from a mobile launch platform located in the Indian Ocean. The launch will take place off the coast of Kenya in East Africa, no earlier than December 12. The spacecraft is the Small Astronomy Satellite-A (SAS-A) 42 in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Explorer series. It is the first satellite equipped with sensitive experiments to detect high-energy X-ray sources in space, and is also known as the X-ray Explorer. Successful operation of the astronomy satellite will allow scientists to take the next giant step in astronomy -- the cataloguing of powerful X-ray sources both within and outside our galaxy, the Milky Way. During the first day of operation of its scientific instruments, the satellite is expected to collect more data than has been obtained with sounding rockets in the eight years since the science of X-ray astronomy was born.' 71 grams total, 25.3 x 20.4 - 25.3 x 20.3 cm



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Harwich, UK, collector.