Vintage Child's Skis

The uppers of thick leather and a thick green-grey wool felt, leather mounts and hemming, iron buckles, wooden soles. 3.25 kg total, 31.5 cm high



Acquired from Czerny's Auctions, Italy, 2019, lot 79563. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the Czerny's invoice and listing.

A type worn by German troops, mostly on the Russian front during the ferocious winter conditions experienced by the German army during the retreat from Stalingrad.

Stamped 'W D 50 HENRY POTTER & CO 30. CHARING CROSS LONDON C&M 1888'; scratched graffiti near the mouth reading 'N.Irish Horse'; decorative fabric cord. 648 grams, 43 cm



Acquired from The Antiques Storehouse, UK, 2015. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the invoice and other information.

Produced for the North Irish Horse (60th Imperial Yeomanry) regiment and was presented to a Colonel at some stage in its history. The NIH is a yeomanry unit of the British Territorial Army raised in the northern counties of Ireland in the aftermath of the Second Boer War.

The wooden background with an openwork oklad: the Virgin holding the infant Christ, gesturing towards him with her left hand, wearing an embellished floral embroidery, elaborate cuffs to the himation; Christ, seated upon the right arm of Mary, embracing his mother tenderly, his chiton embellished with a sash with geometric patterns; both figures nimbate with elaborate halos, inscription 'ΜΡ ΘΥ' for 'Mother of God' flanking the Virgin's halo, 'IC XC' for 'Jesus Christ' on the other side; winged nimbate ‘Angel of God’ and nimbate Saint Ekaterina in rectangular panels on either side; the reverse with a seal of ‘Εργαστήριο Βυζαντινών Εικόνων, Θεσσαλονίκη’ (Workshop for Byzantine Icons, Thessaloniki).On the bottom of the icon the Greek word A.E, ΘEC – IC, probably for A[RGYRON] E[RGASTERION] THES[SALONIKI]. i.e. laboratory of silver Thessaloniki. 723 grams, 22 x 16.5 cm



Acquired in Germany. Property of RWM Collection.

The icon shows the Virgin in the attitude of Mother of Consolation, or in that of Hodegetria. This is the iconographical type of Virgin Mary one encounters most frequently in an Eastern Orthodox Church or home, Hodegetria meaning 'Mother of God Pointing the Way'. The Virgin Mary is shown with the Christ on her lap, looking at the viewer and her right hand indicating Christ, seeming to say 'Follow Him'.