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LOT 2138
WWI Trench Art Wooden Walking Stick
1914-1918 A.D.
33 1/2 in. (389 grams, 85 cm).
Carved as the staff or 'Rod of Asclepius' with a snake curled around the staff and inscribed 'IN MEMORY OF GREAT EUROPEAN WAR'; chip-carved median band and differential staining. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.
Footnotes'Trench Art' refers to decorated objects made by soldiers from the debris of war and serving as souvenirs and pastimes.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Very Large Glazed Bellarmine Witch's Bottle with Contents
Late 16th-early 17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,750
Vessel of squat spherical form with a broad cylindrical neck, strap handle and foot with rolled rim, bearded face (Bartmann 'mask') and other detailing; with original contents comprising: eight iron clout nails with square-section shank and domed head; three similar with flat head; base metal dress pin with hollow-formed spherical head; similar with biconvex head; fragment of coarse-woven textile with five pins in situ; thirteen unassociated pins. 1.7 kg total, bottle: 26.5 cm
From the private collection of a London, UK, gentleman.
Witch bottles were a response to the common belief in witchcraft, which was feared in the Puritan culture of those times. The process involved heating the victim’s urine in a bottle, mixed with human hair and metal nails and pins, sometimes inserted into a cloth panel representing the victim's heart. The bottle was then either buried under the hearth of a house (East Anglian tradition) or thrown into a river (London tradition). The heating of the bottle was supposed to transfer to the body of the witch who had caused the victim to be afflicted. -
Egyptian Style Stone and Other Bead Necklace String
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
Composed of polychrome annular beads; restrung. 4.69 grams, 36.3 cm
From London, UK, gallery collection, 1990s. -
Post Medieval Stained and Natural Wooden Gaming Pieces
Southern Germany, Nuremberg, 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Turned wooden counters in natural and dark-stained versions; some of the darker type with the bust of a Holy Roman Emperor to one face and a prospect of a city (Vienna, Danzig, etc.), as well as comic figures and scenes; the lighter group with similar motifs as well as hunting and other scenes. 320 grams total, 51 mm each
Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market.
Similar game pieces are often signed ‘PHM’ for Philipp Heinrich Müller (1654-1719). There are eleven stained pear wood pieces and ten natural pear-wood pieces. The game pieces are decorated with busts, commemorative medals, cities, figural scenes including interiors, daily life and great battles, German / Austrian cities and figures from the engravings of Jacques Callot (1592-1635).