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Lot 136
Tribal/Ethnographic: Saint Anthony of Padua bronze pendant, Bakongo People, DRC, 1950s, 10cm high. ‘Catholic since the late fifteenth century, the Kongo Kingdom fostered devotion to many saints. St. Anthony was among the most popular, and was called Toni Malau ("Anthony of Good Fortune") for his purported powers of healing and good luck. The popularity of Saint Anthony in Kongo was part of an early modern phenomenon in which the saint was equally popular in Europe, South America, and Africa. Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195, the Franciscan brother Anthony was canonized just one year after his 1231 death in Padua, Italy. Claimed as a patron saint by both Portugal and Italy, religious missionaries from both regions spread his cult globally. Soon after their 1645 arrival in Kongo, Italian Capuchin fathers began to spread the cult of St. Anthony. In the Kongo kingdom, locally made figures of Saint Anthony based on European prototypes became common around the eighteenth century. The practice most likely related to the saints popularity in the kingdom, and was possibly tied to the short-lived Antonian movement, during which the Kongo noble woman Beatriz Kimpa Vita gained a significant political following after declaring herself the reincarnation of St. Anthony. To the chagrin of European missionaries, the Antoniens adopted the metal, ivory, and wooden images of St. Anthony, wearing the sculpture of the saint they called Toni Malau as a sign of their allegiance and as a protective amulet. Known as "Little Anthonies," her followers occupied the capital and travelled throughout the Kongo kingdom wearing their medallions, spreading the message of Dona Beatriz, who believed that Africanizing the church would strengthen the Kongo state, which was in disarray after a series of civil conflicts and the rising effects of the Transatlantic slave trade. While the Antonien movement was successfully put down in 1706, St. Anthony remained popular long after. Considered the "Saint of Good Fortune" or the "Saint of Prosperity," Toni Malau figures continued to be used prominently in Kongo as forms of protection from illness, the troubles of childbirth, or other problems.
Lot 23
Three Egyptian faience scarab beads with hieroglyphs to the bases, and a smaller beads, later mounted in gilt metal as a brooch, the scarabs 1.2cm long, two Egyptian turquoise faience Shabti's, Third Intermediate Period, circa 1069 - 525 BC, with painted details, 10.5cm and 10.8cm high, a faience and blue glass bead necklace, a 20th century pottery sphinx with hieroglyphs to the base and a faience amulet of Bes. (6) Provenance Private collection UK
Lot 584
A Yoruba Ibeji female figure Igbomina, Nigeria with a twin domed coiffure with a top open link and front crescent, with an animated face having scarifications and eyelashes, wearing a Tirah amulet and waist band, with arms to the side and with encrusted cam wood powder and glass bead and coconut slice bands, 29.5cm high. Provenance Marvin Chasin Collection, London, UK.
Lot 88
*Lewis (Clive Staples, 1898-1963 ). Autograph letter signed, 'C.S. Lewis', Magdalen College, Oxford, 22 May 1952, to 'Grittletonians' in response to their fan letters for the first two books of the Chronicles of Narnia, 'Like you, I am sorry that Peter and Susan are not going back to Narnia, but I think, being the two eldest, they are now getting to the age at which people stop having that sort of adventure for a time - they may start having it again later, but not for some years. The new book is called The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lucy and Edmund find Caspian (now King of course) on board ship, sailing to the Eastern end of the Narnian world. There will be lots about Reepicheep. And there will be a Sea Serpent, and a Dragon, and lots of strange islands. I do hope you will all like it. I intend to have seven of these stories altogether - that is, four more after the next one. They will be called The Chronicles of Narnia. The sixth ['fifth' deleted and corrected] book will go right back to the beginning and explain how there came to be that magic wardrobe in the Professor's house - for of course you will have guessed that the old Professor must have known something about things like that himself, or else he would never have believed what the children told him. I don't know yet what will happen in the seventh. What do you think would be a good thing to end the whole series with? Of course Aslan will come into them all', the author then reflecting, 'I wonder what other books you all like. I like George MacDonald's two Curdy books and Tolkien's The Hobbit, and [Kenneth Grahame's] The Wind in the Willows. Do you write stories yourselves? I did at your age: it is the greatest fun', and adding two further works in the post script, 'E. Nesbitt's [sic] works are splendid, I think: especially The Phoenix and the Wishing Carpet and The Amulet', a little creased, 2 pages, oblong 8vo (14 x 21.5cm) The recipients of this warm and insightful letter about the plot lines and planning for the Narnia series would have been pupils at Grittleton House School, in the village of Grittleton, Wiltshire, an independent co-educational school which opened in 1951, (closed in 2016), and this letter must have been written in response to some of its first pupils. The school's rural country mansion character and setting would have borne some similarity to Lewis's description of the professor's mansion in the countryside where the young Pevensie children went to live, and where they discovered the wardrobe. Lewis, too, would have empathised with the children from Grittleton House School, not too far away in the adjoining county to Oxford where he was then living, for he spent some of his early childhood in a large house on the edge of Belfast, and then much of his youth in boarding schools. At the time Lewis wrote this letter he had already written the first five books, but clearly had not yet decided how the final book would end. The Magician's Nephew (the last to be written) was completed in February 1954 and published in May 1955. The Last Battle (the final work in the series) was completed in March 1953 and published in September 1956. In 1957 Lewis wrote to an American fan: 'I think I agree with your [chronological] order for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last, but I found I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published' (Lyle Dorsett & Marjorie Lamp Mead, editors, C.S. Lewis: Letters to Children, 1995). To find Lewis championing Wind in the Willows (1908) and the much later The Hobbit (1937) is unsurprising, but the two other authors mentioned were equally important and influential from a young age. Of George MacDonald, (an important influence on Tolkien too), Lewis wrote 'George MacDonald had done more to me than any other writer', and of E.E. Nesbit's Psammead trilogy and The Story of the Amulet (1906) Lewis wrote '[This] did the most for me. It first opened my eyes to antiquity, the "dark backward and abysm of time"'. As an adult he was able to say, 'I can still reread it with delight'. (1)
Lot 351
1st millennium BC. A gold amulet in the form of a roaring lion head made from a single gold sheet; suspension ring to the back. 2.4 grams, 21mm (1"). Property of a North London lady; gifted from her father's collection; formerly with a Mayfair gallery, London, UK; previously acquired in the 1980s. Fine condition.
Lot 43
New Kingdom, Ramesside Period, 19th-20th Dynasty, 1292-1069 BC. A green schist heart amulet, Ib, with jar-shaped body, small lug handles to the side, with suspension ring to the top; engraved to one side with the name of the dead; on the reverse the standing figure of a heron, known as the benu bird; Egyptologist Peter Clayton writes: 'The Heart Scarab is really splendid, although without Chapter 30B as most heart scarabs have on the underside. The benu bird on it is quite rare'. 30 grams, 49mm (2"). From the Meyer family collection, France; acquired by the current owner's father in 1991 from Thierry Lux, who inherited them from his father Joseph Claer; accompanied by a copy of a Joseph Claer biography, the current collection notes, and the original French passport number 147881, dated 9 August 2013. Joseph Claer (born 9/5/1859) lived and worked in Dornach, Switzerland, in the family painting and decorating business. Claer was responsible for the decoration of many of the churches of the upper Rhine area badly damaged during World War I. He was a prolific collector of antiquities and curiosities from around the world and created an important collection which remained largely intact after his death in 1929, with only a small number ending up in museums. This collection consists mainly of wooden and metal statuettes, approximately two hundred stained glass windows, numerous paintings, sketches, engravings, antique fireplaces and furniture. For the ancient Egyptians, the heart, Ib, was the source of intelligence, feelings and actions. A person's memory was also housed in the heart and so at the judgement ceremony, known as the Weighing of the Heart, which took place in the Halls of Amduat before Osiris, the heart was able to speak on behalf of the deceased, accounting to Osiris for a lifetime of deeds. Therefore, heart amulets were only used on the mummy to protect the owner's organ and to ensure that his heart gave a positive response at judgement. The Bennu bird was an important solar creature, associated by the Greeks with the phoenix. It was believed that the bird flew over the waters of chaos at the beginning of time and came to rest on a rock from which its cry broke the primeval silence, determining what was and what was not to be in the unfolding creation. Like the sun god, the Bennu's own birth is attributed to self generation. A mythological papyri of the Twenty-First Dynasty provides a vignette of a heart-amulet and scarab beetle near to which stand the Benu, which is described as the one who came into being by himself. It was believed to constantly rise renewed just like the sun, and was called the lord of jubilees. The Bennu Bird was said to appear each morning under the form of the rising sun, and was supposed to shine upon the world from the top of the famous Persea tree in Heliopolis wherein he renewed himself. [A video of this item is available to view on TimeLine Auctions website.] Very fine condition. Very rare.
Lot 19
Isis Nursing Horus Amulet, Late Period, 664-332 BC.A faience amulet of the goddess Isis seated on a throne, wearing a tripartite wig and headdress with sun-disc between cow horns. To the lap the infant Horus suckling; pierced for suspension. Size: 23mm, (3/4”). Condition: Excellent. Provenance: Early 20th Century Collection, acquired legally and ethically on the art market. Declaration of provenance: All provenance details are supplied by the vendor (consignor) – Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers supply a Certificate of Authenticity with all antiquities sold showing authenticity. Provenance and known details recorded on this.
Lot 19
Isis Nursing Horus Amulet, Late Period, 664-332 BC. A faience amulet of the goddess Isis seated on a throne, wearing a tripartite wig and headdress with sun-disc between cow horns. To the lap the infant Horus suckling; pierced for suspension. Size: 23mm, (3/4”). Condition: Excellent. Provenance: Early 20th Century Collection, acquired legally and ethically on the art market.Declaration of provenance: All provenance details are supplied by the vendor (consignor) – Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers supply a Certificate of Authenticity with all antiquities sold showing authenticity. Provenance and known details recorded on this.
Lot 21
Hardstone Wadjet Amulet Group, Late Period, 664-332 BC A group of four wadjet Eye of Horus amulets , one in faience, one in carnelian, one in speckled diorite and one in lapis lazuli. 10-15mm. Provenance: Early 20th Century Collection, acquired legally and ethically on the art market.Declaration of provenance: All provenance details are supplied by the vendor (consignor) – Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers supply a Certificate of Authenticity with all antiquities sold showing authenticity. Provenance and known details recorded on this.
Lot 27
Egyptian Faience Seated Sekhmet Amulet, Late Period, 664-332 BC A faience amulet of the goddess Sekhmet, seated on a throne with lion head and wearing a tripartite wig and close fitting dress.30mm. Provenance: Early 20th Century Collection, acquired legally and ethically on the art market.Declaration of provenance: All provenance details are supplied by the vendor (consignor) – Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers supply a Certificate of Authenticity with all antiquities sold showing authenticity. Provenance and known details recorded on this.
Lot 593
Western Asiatic Luristan ibex amulet, 2nd- 1stmillennium BC. A bronze amuletic pendant in the form of a standing ibex or goat. Large curving horns to the top ofthe head, small ears to the back. The head with a large eye to either side and small, snub nose. Thethick neck with crease lines to the bottom. The body with a suspension ring to the back and collar tothe middle of the torso; small tail to the back. Short legs, those to the back slightly angled.For a similar example see: The Detroit Institute for Arts, accession number 70.988. Ex. Gloucestershire Collection, acquired legally over the last decade.
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