Western Asiatic Style Fertility Figure Group

Comprising: clay pipe stems; clay pipe bowls; pistol and musket balls; lead whorls and other items; thimbles, and domestic items; fragments of glazed pottery, bellarmine jug, tiles and other items; in an 18th century or later wooden display box with six compartments above and sliding drawer with four more compartments, brass escutcheon to obverse; brass hinges to lid, frontal plate with two lateral pivoting reeded panels, each engaging with peg on the underside of the lid; brass drop-handle to each endwall; brass lock (no key); lid with reserved panel, heater shield with arms featuring hatched bars and a vertical arrow; old collector's paper note with legend 'Artefacts excavated from camps and fortifications along the circumvallation from the 3rd siege of the toun [sic] of Newark 1645-1646 from Beacon Hill - Leicester's camp - Marlborough old line - backoly - Molly Hornwork Kings line - See R. Clamps plan' 18.4 kg total, box: 45 x 31 x 16.5 cm



Excavated from camps and fortifications from the 3rd siege of Newark (1645-1646); Beacon Hill, a Leicester camp; Marlborough old line, Backely; and Molls Hornwork, Kings Line. From the private collection of John Fox, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK, antiquarian and archaeologist; his collection assembled in the 1950s-1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

A hornwork was a defensive construction, a flat face between two bastions.

Woodcut panoramic view of the city with agricultural workers in the foreground, mountains to the rear and heraldic shields with eagle device; title above 'Landoia ciuitas imperialisdepiscta ad effigiem quam nostro habet æuo'; two blocks of latin text; title page to reverse. 7 grams, 40 x 30.5 cm



Property of a Cheshire, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Depicting nimbate Mary Theotokos with veiled head and wearing a red maphorion mantle over a dark blue robe with gold cuffs, inclined towards the infant Jesus supported by her left hand, wearing a bright red mantle and a blue tunic highlighted with gold, his left arm holding a roll and the right hand in a gesture of blessing; white field, tempera on wood, Smolenskaya type. 1.12 kg, 32 x 26 cm



Acquired from Portobello Road, London, circa 2000. Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The model for the icon, painted in a 16th century style, is the Mother of God of Smolensk, associated with the Byzantine icon of the Hodegetria ('She who shows the ways’). According to the legend, the icon of Smolensk received the name after healing two blind men. The original icon of Smolensk was a gift of the Roman Emperor Constantine Monomachus to his daughter Anna when she married the Russian Prince Vsevolod. Later Anna presented the icon to her son Vladimir who displayed it in the Vladimir Cathedral.