Western Asiatic Style Bronze and Silver Utensil Group

Comprising a large hoop with a cut-cornered bezel engraved with a wheat sheaf flanked by the initials P and H. 9.51 grams, 24.71 mm overall, 21.03 x 17.66 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)



Acquired on the European art market. UK, private collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13488-263468.

The family name of the coat of arms with the owner’s initials P and H cannot be identified, but it is possibly German. The garb of wheat, often simply called a ‘garb’ in heraldry, is a bound sheaf of grain and one of the most recognisable agricultural charges in coats of arms. Its traditional meaning is abundance, fertility, harvest, prosperity, and the honest reward of labour. Because wheat was a staple crop, the garb often points to a family connection with farming, landholding, milling, food supply, or rural prosperity. In heraldic terminology, it may be shown in gold to emphasise wealth and ripeness, or in natural colours to stress its agricultural character.

Comprising: a mouse standing on its hind legs with a prominent snout; a man wearing a low-crowned hat and sporting curly hair. 12.8 grams total, 29 mm each



From the collection of archaeologist Frederick William Robins.

Comprising: Owen, John and Bowen, Emanuel, Brecknockshire, from Britannia Depicta or Ogilby Improv'd, plate 163, from an 18th-century issue (first published 1720), an engraved county map with the road strip and a descriptive text panel, Rococo cartouche with putti, urns and a shell, hand-coloured, on the back is plate 164, the road from Chester to Llanfyllin, with a description of Chester and the Arms of Chester, inscribed in pencil 'Emanuel Bowen 1720-the 1735 issue' and 'From the Castle Grant Library' (Castle Grant, Morayshire, the seat of the Grants of Grant, Earls of Seafield); Souter, J., China, inscribed to the lower edge: 'London, Published Octr. 20th 1801 by J. Souter, 1 St. Pauls Ch. Yard', copperplate engraving with hand-coloured outlines, showing the provinces, the Great Wall, the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, Formosa and Hainan, centre fold. 16 grams total, 19.6 x 14 - 25.5 x 23.5 cm

Condition: Aged toning; small loss to the upper-right corner of the Brecknockshire sheet; the China map has a centre fold and some handling creases.

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