Western Asiatic Style Silver Inlaid Bronze Calligraphic Incense Orb

Painted on a wooden board with mounting slots and panels to the reverse, gessoed surface with painting of the Virgin of Kazan, head of Mary with gilded nimbus and russet-coloured veil, standing infant Jesus similarly nimbate with right hand raised in the pax gesture; gilt monograms to the upper corners and title to the lower left corner. 968 grams, 31 cm high

Fine condition.

Ex property of a London lady, part of her family's collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The original icon, also known as the Theotokos of Kazan, is thought to have originated in Constantinople in the 13th century before it was taken to Russia. When the Turks took over Kazan in 1438, the icon was most probably hidden to keep it safe. Ivan the Terrible liberated Kazan in 1552, and the town was destroyed by fire in 1579, after which the icon was found and brought to the Church of Saint Nicholas. It was subsequently stolen in 1904 and never found again, though there are many copies in existence.

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.

Comprising: three decorative buttons; fob seal matrix with plain intaglio; a spherical white metal button; a red glass intaglio with profile bust set in a fragmentary swivel mount; a clear glass pendant with three oak leaves; a glass intaglio of a seated Lady Justice set in a bronze frame. 38.3 grams total, 16-26 mm



Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, collector. From his private collection since the 1970s; thence by descent circa 2000. Ex private collection of a Bedfordshire gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.