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Lot 108
Matteo de’ Pasti (fl. 1441-68), Isotta degli Atti (mistress and later wife of Sigismondo Malatesta), bronze medal, bust right, hair held with crossed bands and falling down in two masses behind, rev., the Malatesta elephant standing in a meadow of flowers; dated below, M.CCC.XLVI, 84mm (Hill 187; Armand I, 21, 19; Pollard 33 = Kress 63; Scher, Currency of Fame, 13), pierced, a very fine contemporary cast with dark patina. The date 1446 is thought to refer to the year in which Sigismondo Malatesta made Isotta his mistress, the medal itself most likely dating to around 1453 or shortly thereafter when she was accepted as a member of the Malatesta family. These unsigned medals have been found under foundation stones although the present example shows no signs of having been excavated.
Lot 109
Sperandio of Mantua (c. 1425-1504), Camilla Sforza (widow of Costanzo Sforza), bronze medal, bust three-quarters left wearing widow’s veil, rev., SIC ITVR AD ASTRA, a female figure seated on a seat composed of the foreparts of a unicorn and a hound; signed below, OPVS SPERANDEI, 83.2 mm (Hill 399; Arm. I, 74, 43; Pollard 90 = Kress 130; Bargello 114), pierced and with second attempted piercing, a very fine early cast. Ex Leu 74, Zurich, 19-21 October 1998, lot 725. The inscription on the reverse (“this is the way to the stars”) is from Virgil’s Aeneid, Book IX, 64. Sperandio’s design must have been influenced by the reverse of one of Matteo de’ Pasti’s medals of Sigismondo Malatesta showing Fortitude on a seat formed of foreparts of elephants; here the unicorn and hound represent Chastity and Fidelity.
Lot 114
Bolognese School, Pirro Malvezzi (patrician of Bologna, 1429-1505), bronze medal, 1477, bust left wearing armour emblazoned with lion’s mask in medallion, rev., DO BERARDVS I CCCCLXXVII, Malvizzi in Roman attire seated on monster with lion’s head and body and dragon’s tail, 72.5mm (Hill 1119; Arm. I, 58 and III, 14), pierced, a very fine early cast. The attribution in Hill to a certain Do. Berardus, otherwise unknown, is not at all certain. Hill considered the work influenced by Cristoforo di Geremia, especially his medal of Alfonso of Aragon (Hill 754), noting the similarities inherent in the armour worn by the sitters in each case as well as other aspects. This cast is extremely similar to the example in Paris illustrated by Hill, repeating the doubling of the date on the reverse.
Lot 115
Leone Leoni (c. 1509-90), Andrea Doria (Genoese admiral, 1466-1560), bronze medal, bust right with trident at shoulder, rev., galley moving to right with small boat containing two figures in the sea below, 40.5mm (Attwood 5; Arm. I, 164, 9; Pollard 490 = Kress 431; Bargello 712), edge filed down, a very fine early cast. The medal commemorates the release of Leoni from the Papal galleys to which he had been condemned for the murderous attack on the Pope’s jeweller Pellegrino de Leuti. His release in 1541 came about through the intercession of Andrea Doria, here depicted as Neptune.
Lot 117
Leone Leoni, Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor, 1519-1556), bronze medal (1549), laureate bust right, rev., Jupiter repelling the Giants who attempt to climb Mount Olympus, 73mm (Attwood 24; Arm. I, 162, 1; Pollard 492 = Kress 426; Bernhart 163.2), old cast, about extremely fine with brown patina. The cast is extremely close to the example in the Lanna collection (1911), no. 626.
Lot 125
Gaspare Mola, Urban VIII (Pope, 1623-44), bronze-gilt medal for the opening of the iron foundry at Monteleone, 45mm (Bortolotti 641; Lincoln 1059), repaired at top, ink number on worn area of reverse, very fine; G.F. Travani, Giovanni I Corner (Venetian Doge, 1625-29), bronze-gilt restitution medal, bust left, rev., inscription, 1647, 47.5mm (Voltolina 937), pierced, very fine (2)
Lot 126
Anonymous (17th century), Christ and a Martyr, oval bronze-gilt locket in the form of a box medal, with image of Christ facing left and the lid with image of a martyr wearing a friar’s habit and with a dagger embedded in his skull, 43mm x 38mm x 13.6mm, very fine with loop for suspension, very rare. The identity of the friar martyr may be the Dominican St Peter of Verona (1206-52) or the Carmelite St Angelus of Jerusalem (1185-1220) both of whose attributes include a bladed instrument embedded in the skull. The bust of Christ is taken from a late 16th century medal (Attwood 196). Hill noted that it is the earliest medallic image of Christ wearing the Crown of Thorns.
Lot 131
Antonio Selvi, Richard Molesworth (1680-1758, 3rd Viscount Molesworth), bronze medal (1712), bust right in armour and ornate helmet, rev., Bellona grasping the arm of Fortune, 89mm (Vannel & Toderi 133; MI II, 391/245; Eimer 453), extremely fine and very rare, brown patina Of Anglo-Irish descent, both he and his elder brother John Molesworth commissioned medals by Selvi when the latter was British ambassador in Tuscany. He succeeded as the third viscount on the death of his brother in 1726. He was a military man and aide-de-camp to Marlborough. At the Battle of Ramillies he is said to have rescued Marlborough at a critical moment by giving up his own horse to the Duke who had been momentarily unseated. He rose to become commander-in-chief, Ireland in 1751 and was promoted to field marshall in 1757, the year before his death.
Lot 133
Gioacchino Francesco Travani (fl. 1634-75), Alexander VII (Pope, 1655-67), uniface bronze medal, bust right with hand raised in blessing, 93.4mm (BDM VI, 130), extremely fine The medal is usually accompanied by a reverse of the fountain of Santa Maria in Trastevere. There are two thin cracks in the flan before and behind the portrait. There is a small repair to the edge at 2 o'clock.
Lot 135
Peter Paul Borner, Innocent XII (Pope, 1691-1700), large bronze medal (1694), bust left in cope and wearing Papal tiara, rev., view of the Dogana (customs house) built at the Ripa Grande, 95mm (Bortolotti p. 106; BDM I, 218 erroneously attributed to J.B. Borner), extremely fine with dark patina, very rare The medal is discussed in an essay by Augusto Donini in Medaglia 10, Milan 1975, pp. 131-135. The reverse is taken from a print by Alessandro Specchi showing the building designed by the architect Mattia de’ Rossi. Borner was a Swiss medallist and die engraver who worked at the mint in Rome and a number of Papal coins bear his signature.
Lot 149
Cristoforo di Geremia, An Emperor and Concord, bronze square plaquette, the emperor clasping hands with the figure of Concord over a tripod altar, 67mm x 66.5mm (Molinier 90; Bange 611; Kress 54, fig. 19; Scaglia II.5 – “Allegory of the Peace of the Church”; Ashmolean 266), pierced, vertical edges on reverse chamfered (for fitment into mount), very fine contemporary cast Ex Adams collection, Bonham’s 1996, lot 4. This image, without the tripod altar, appears as the reverse of the well-known medal of Constantine the Great signed by the artist on the exergual line (as Hill 755) – hence it sometimes being referred to as Constantine and the Church.
Lot 150
Cristoforo di Geremia, Sacrifice to Priapus, oval bronze plaquette, inscribed in the exergue L C I, 61mm x 54.3mm (Molinier 118; Bange 416; cf. Rossi, Mantegna, 2006, 40 – set in an oil lamp), an early but worn cast with mount mark at top and two small casting cracks at rim below An example of the companion piece to this, Sacrifice to Cupid. was in the Charles Avery collection, sold here on 11 June 2008, lot 374. See also Anthony Radcliffe, “Two Early Romano-Mantuan Plaquettes” in Studies in the History of Art 22, 93-103 and fig. 2 – mounted into a lamp cover.
Lot 151
Pseudo-Fra Antonio da Brescia, Abundance and a Satyr, bronze-gilt plaquette, 57.3mm (Molinier 121; Bange 644; cf. Kress 189, fig. 238; Scaglia III.19; Ashmolean 334), pierced, slightly convex form with roughened edge (probably made for fitment into a sword pommel), fine contemporary cast As related by Jeremy Warren in the Ashmolean catalogue (pp. 762-67 and fig. 279) an image of this type of plaquette, along with others, is found in the 1521 prayer book of Matthäus Schwarz, Augsburg merchant and bookkeeper to the Fuggers – and this presumably represents the plaquette’s earliest depiction in another medium.
Lot 155
The Master IO FF, Ariadne on Naxos, bronze plaquette, 64mm (Molinier 130-132; Bange 648; Kress 97, fig. 128; Scaglia VI.7 – 3 variant B; Ashmolean 277), cast with a wide border, pierced, a very fine contemporary cast For a similar example with a wide rim (but gilded) see Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland, catalogue 1, no. 35.
Lot 157
The Master IO FF, Allegory of Unity (or the Revolt of Volero Publilius), bronze circular plaquette, 65.5mm (Molinier 142; Bange 661; cf. Kress 108; Scaglia VI.9; Ashmolean 282), cast with a wide rim, very fine early cast, the reverse with three mount marks From the collection of the late Sir John Pope-Hennessey. Also known as a shield-shaped plaquette, the subject has been interpreted as either a scene from Aesop’s Fable of “The Bundle of Sticks” or in the more historical context of the revolt of Volero Publilius in 473 BC, as related by Livy.
Lot 164
Giovanni Bernardi da Castelbolognese (1496-1553), Prometheus (or Tityos), oval bronze-gilt plaquette, the prostrate figure in chains attacked by a vulture; signed IOVANES B below, 70mm x 92mm (Molinier 333; Bange 875; Donati 23), pierced, very fine early cast The rock crystal from which the plaquette is derived is in the British Museum (1867.0507.739).
Lot 165
Attributed to Francesco Marti (active 1489-1516), St. Margaret and the Dragon, silhouetted bronze plaquette, depicting half-length image of the saint holding a bible and aspergillum (?), the dragon below, 74mm x 64mm (for similar figures of saints attributed to Marti see Kress 78-82, figs. 146-150), traces of gilding, the back attached to copper sheet and the lower foot of dragon with small drill hole, very fine, contemporary cast Ex Adams collection, Bonham’s, 23 May 1996, lot 127.
Lot 167
Italian School (late 15th – early 16th century), Christ as Man of Sorrows, bronze pax, with inscription IE-RO-SO-LI-M around the image of Christ set within architectural frame containing cherub within the pediment, 126mm x 84mm (Molinier 467; Bange 720-722; Scaglia III.9, variant E, fig. f), reverse with stand removed and loop added for suspension, very fine contemporary cast
Lot 168
Italian School (late 15th – early 16th century), The Pietà, silhouetted bronze plaquette, the Virgin holding Christ’s Body in front of the Cross and flanked by the spear and holy sponge, 68mm x 48mm (Molinier 435; Kress 294, fig. 276), pierced, very fine contemporary cast This image is sometimes found mounted within a pax, as lot 787 in our sale on 7-8 December 2017.
Lot 174
German (17th century), The Agony in the Garden, silhouetted bronze-gilt plaquette, Jesus praying and the sleeping figures of the apostles Peter, John and James, 123mm x 107mm (Weber -), very fine and rare, traces of mount marks and later suspension ring attached to the back From the collection of the late Sir John Pope-Hennessey.
Lot 177
Netherlandish (c. 1600), Ecce Homo, bronze rectangular plaquette, 102.8 x 71.8mm (Weber 1039; Molinari 410), with suspension loop, very fine This and the following four lots were attributed to Spain by Weber and others but that attribution has been questioned and Jeremy Warren in the Ashmolean catalogue puts forward the arguments for his preference for the Low Countries, adopted also by Vannell and Toderi in the Bargello plaquette catalogue.
Lot 313
Victorian Rowing Medals: Cambridge University, Head of the River silver prize medal in glazed silver mount, mount engraved 1882 BOW H. ARMYTAGE, 52mm, and Henley Royal Regatta, Grand Challenge Cup silver-gilt medal, similarly mounted and engraved 1885 3 H. Armytage, 50mm, some tarnishing, good extremely fine; similarly mounted but unnamed medals for Cambridge ‘L’Arking Challenge Sculls’ in silver, glass cracked and Cambridge Athletics, in bronze; and engraved plaques (2), both naming Armytage, the first listing the winning Jesus College Head of the River crew of 1883 in silver and the second for Cambridge University Athletics, 1882, in bronze. The lot now includes a named black and white photograph of 'Jesus 1st Boat', dated May 1887, with two additional medals, and one additional engraved plaque. (10 items in the lot)
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389650 item(s)/page