Tudor Period Bronze 'Knuckle Duster' Ring

Off-white ground with dark blue masthead 'Meldoy Maker / World's Largest Net Sale ' red blocked text and dark blue footer 'Every Friday - 6d'; footnote 'Printed and issued by Odhams Press, Long Acre, London WC2'. 22 grams, 76.2 x 50.6 cm



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

'Melody Maker' was an important music-industry weekly magazine which was founded in 1926 by the publisher Lawrence Wright, aimed at dance band musicians under the title 'The Melody Maker and British Metronome'. The footnote reference is to the Odhams publishing venture which folded in 1968.

Featuring a gold mount with twisted ropework border and scalloped edges securing bevelled glass coverings, one side depicting nimbate Saint Catherine of Alexandria wearing a pale blue dress with a red cloak, holding a gilt palm frond; the other side with Saint John of Nepomuk dressed in clerical attire and holding a gilt cross and a palm frond. 29.1 grams, 43 mm



Acquired on the European art market.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian saint and virgin who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the Emperor Maxentius. She was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years after Catherine's martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her. Saint John of Nepomuk (c. 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava River at the behest of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. Based on this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning. Verre églomisé is a French term referring to the process of applying both a design and gilding onto the rear face of glass to produce a mirror finish. The name is derived from the 18th-century French decorator and art-dealer Jean-Baptiste Glomy (1711–1786), who was responsible for its revival. Glomy's technique was a relatively simple one of applying decorative designs in a combination of plain colour and gilding, usually to glass picture frames. However, over time, it has come to be used to describe nearly any process involving back-painted and gilded glass, however elaborate.

Representing Saint Antipas with a Gospel in his left hand and making the gesture of blessing with his right, dressed as a bishop, with sticharion, covered by omophorion, and surmounted by an epitrachelion; the Mandylion at the centre above the saint, Saint Mary on the left panel and Jesus on the right; Old Slavic inscription around the figures: 'ΙC ΧΡ' (Jesus Christ); 'ΜΡ ϴΥ'(Mother of God); Saint Antipas of Pergamum (Св Анти́па Перга́мский). 238 grams, 11.3 cm



Acquired 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.

The icon features meticulous craftsmanship typical of Orthodox iconography. Saint Antipas was popularly held to be a healer of tooth problems. He was martyred by being burned in a brazen bull-shaped altar under the Emperor Nero or Domitian.