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Lot 89
Swimming medallions, awarded to one CP Mackay between 1922 and 1938, viz. two silver, cast for Romford Town Swimming Club; three silver, four silver and blue enamel, four bronze and blue enamel and three bronze, cast for Port of London Authority Swimming Club; one bronze, two silver, one silver and blue enamel, cast for Ilford Swimming Club; two silver and blue enamel, respectively cast for Essex County Swimming and Water Polo Association and Public Authority of London
Lot 1111
Italy. The Roman Republic (1798-1799), Siege of Ancona AV ‘Scudo Romano’. Ancona, 1799. PIVS SEXTVS PONT M A VI, oval coat of arms of the Braschi in a rich cornice decorated with cornucopiae and shell, surmounted by a radiant papal tiara and crossed keys / AVXILIVM DE SANCTO 1780, veiled personification of Holy Church, with radiant head, seated to front on clouds, holding keys of St Peter in right hand and extending left to a small domed temple; in left inner field, mint mark A; below, small coat of arms of Mons. Giuseppe Vai. Plain edge. M. Dubbini & G. Mancinelli, Storia delle monete di Ancona, Ancona 2009, 7.4 and p. 206, first paragraph (this coin); M. Traina, Gli assedi e le loro monete (491-1861), Bologna 1976, ‘Ancona, asseddio austro-russo-turco del 1799’, pp. 55-75, 3. For related obsidional silver issues of Ancona cf. Muntoni IV, p. 212, 20 pl. 218; Serafini III, 855; Pagani p. 262 note; Berman 3001 (Pius VI); Gigante 2005, p. 373, 1; KM 10. 37.20g, 41mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin. Unique and of great numismatic interest. The allied siege and naval blockade of Ancona from 18 March - 13 November 1799 was effected by a squadron of 8 Russian and Turkish ships, and on land, by an army of troops from Austria, Russia and Turkey. This was the occasion for the remarkable obsidional issue by Ancona of silver coins utilising dies previously used for silver scudi and half scudi from the Rome mint in the name of Pius VI, as well as local copper 2 and 1 Baiocchi pieces. According to the Abbot Antonio Leoni, in Ancona Ilustrata opera dell’Abbate Antonio Leoni anconitano colle risposte ai sigg. Peruzzi, Pignetti etc, e il compendio delle memorie storiche d’Ancona, Ancona 1832 (Archivio comunale di Ancona fasc. 2920, p. 100), the new mint was housed in a confiscated collegiate church and entrusted on 3 Fiorile (11 April) to the chief mint master of the new Roman Republic, Luigi Severi. The emergency mint was operational by the end of Germile (about 19 April), and with the seizure of church property and forced contributions from wealthy private citizens, including the Jewish community, it began to strike coins in bronze, silver and gold. Leoni op. cit., p. 376, expressly states that gold was struck: (‘Zecca: ove fu battuta la moneta d rame, e di bronzo, da’ argento, e d’ oro: esendo zecchiere il signor Luigi romano. Le monete d’oro, e d’ argento (piasre e doppie) furono coniate simile alle pontifice, e di eguale purezza.’). The bronze coinage was struck from the bell metal recovered from the local churches, the ‘voluntary’ silver was debased and struck from modified Pius VI dies with a small mint mark ‘A’ added to the field of the reverse die. However, none of the gold coinage has survived except for the above specimen which according to Dubbini and Mancinelli, p. 206: ‘probabilmente si tratta di un omaggio fatto durante l’assedio a qualche personaggio di rilievo’ (‘it is probably a donative made during the siege for a very important person’). The ancient Doric city of Ancona was founded by Syracusan exiles (Strabo v.4.3.2 [241]) in the early fourth century BC on an elbow-shaped promontory (Ἀγκών), which gave the town its name, situated on an excellent natural harbour. Under the Roman Empire the city became a municipium and base for the fleet; Trajan improved the port, where he built nearby a splendid triumphal arch celebrating the Dacian victory. Under Byzantium, Ancona became the first city of the Maritime Pentapolis, governed by Ravenna, but with considerable autonomy. The seat of a Carolingian march, it eventually became a semi-independent maritime republic under papal patronage, rich in commerce with Constantinople. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ancona’s fortunes waned. The Medici pope Clement VII seized the city in 1532, bringing it under direct papal rule. In February 1797 Ancona was occupied by the French and on 19 November became the revolutionary Anconine Republic (Repubblica Anconitana) and part of Napoleon’s newly proclaimed First Roman Republic (Repubblica Romana). Ancona soon became target for the anti-French alliance and became the subject of a well documented siege. The long and obstinate defence of the besieged obtained for the defenders, as it always should do, the most honourable of terms; and General Monnier and his troops were highly complimented for their bravery by the Austrian General Frœlich. Ancona became once again a papal state (1799-1808), part of the Italian Kingdom of Napoleon (1808-1814), yet again a papal state (1814-1848), a part of the second revolutionary Roman Republic (1848-1849), and finally again a papal state (1849-1860), before its entry in the Kingdom of Italy in 29 September 1860.
Lot 144
Islands off Thessaly, Skyros AR Stater. Circa 480 BC. Two goats back to back on either side of fig leaf, heads reverted / Stellate floral pattern within square incuse. J.M. Balcer, SNR 57 (1978), p. 96, 6, pl. 25 (same dies). 8.07g, 27mm. Very Fine. Extremely Rare, Balcer cites only 2 examples: ANS, New York (Skyros hoard. IGCH 31) and Athens, Numismatic Museum. This didrachm and other silver coins of the same type are all very rare and were often overstruck on Attic-weight coins of Akanthos. Since one such coin was found on Skyros (Balcer, no. 46) and six others were in the possession of an inhabitant of the island, it would appear that they were struck on Skyros prior to the arrival of Kimon, c. 475 BC. See J.N. Svoronos, JIAN 3 (1900), pp. 39-46 and Balcer, pp. 69-101. In the early fifth century an expedition was mounted to the island of Skyros under the command of the Athenian general Kimon, ostensibly under the auspices of the Delian League. The conquest of the island is mentioned by Thucydides (1.98), but Plutarch’s version in his Life of Kimon is much more detailed (Life of Kimon, 8). According to Plutarch the island was inhabited by non-Greek Dolopians whose constant plundering of ships, including those which were trading with them, eventually resulted in a request for Athenian intervention, addressed directly to Kimon, whose expedition ‘cleared the sea of pirates’. To complete this heroic effort, Kimon also fulfilled the edict of the Delphic oracle by ‘discovering’ the bones of the Athenian hero Theseus on the island – who, it was said, had been murdered by the jealous and fearful king Lycomedes – and returning them to Athens. Plutarch relates that he identified as the remains of Theseus “a coffin of a great corpse with a bronze spear-head by its side and a sword.” Thucydides, who was to some extent a contemporary of Kimon, and whose account precedes that of Plutarch by over four centuries, is much less elaborate in his description of the invasion, and simply tells us that the Athenians enslaved the local population and established a colony of Athenian citizens there. De Souza (Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World, Cambridge University Press, 1999) points out that Plutarch’s account is the only one to mention piracy (Diorodus and Pausanias also cover the invasion of Skyros), and it is unconvincing, and appears very much like an attempt to justify Athenian aggression. Dawe (Scandal at Skyros: The Delian League, Plutarch and the Maligning of the Dolopians, Studia Antiqua 6.1, 2008) arrives at the same conclusion, and contends that the real purpose of the expedition was to decrease Persian influence by removing a Medizing people from the Aegean, to expand the influence of Athens, and to add to his own political capital by returning the bones of the Athenian hero Theseus. Modern historians have tended to take Plutarch’s account at face value, and not question either his facts or motives, or why his version should differ markedly from those of Thucydides, Diodorus or Pausanias. Given no further evidence of piracy other than Plutarch’s word for it nearly half a millennium after the event, it seems probable that rather than being the product of a pirate gang, this coin represents one of the last remnants of a people exterminated by Athenian imperialism; a people who in the days of myth had supposedly sheltered the young Achilles at the request of his mother Thetis.
Lot 113
AN EARLY 20TH CENTURY ELI H GRIFFITHS & SON BRASS STORM LANTERN stamped 1914, Birmingham,, the circular section chimney enclosed by a hinged cover, attached swing handle with ebonised grip, rectangular glass panels to the frieze enclosing the lamp, on a detachable bronze base, 40cm high overall
Lot 394
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Chimaera to left, tunny fish below / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 55; BMFA -; SNG France -. 16.09g, 22mm. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare. The feared Chimaera was a monster of which a brief description in Homer’s Iliad is the earliest surviving literary reference. He depicts it as “a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire”. It was the offspring of Typhon (last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, and most fearsome of all the monsters of Greek mythology) and Echidna (a half-woman, half-snake, who with her mate Typhon was the origin of many monsters) and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. According to Greek myth, the Chimaera lived in Lycia, ravaging the land. It was eventually slain by Corinth’s most famous son Bellerophon, with the help of Pegasos, at the command of King Iobates of Lycia. Since the Chimaera was impervious to Bellerophon’s attacks even when mounted on Pegasos, an inventive weapon was required – thus, mounting a block of lead on the end of his spear, Bellerophon lodged the lead in the Chimaera’s mouth so that when it breathed fire the lead melted and blocked its airway, suffocating it. The Chimaera first appears at an early stage in the repertory of the proto-Corinthian pottery-painters, providing some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes that may be recognized in Greek art. The Corinthian type has been fixed, after some early hesitation, in the 670s BC. In Etruria too, the Chimaera appears in the Orientalizing period of the seventh cenury BC that precedes Etruscan Archaic art, where it found considerable popularity both as a myth and as a motif. The Chimaera appears in Etruscan wall-paintings of the fourth century BC, was one of the principal types employed on the coinage of Populonia, and is the subject of one of the most important surviving Etruscan bronze statues (see Chimera of Arezzo). It is well known that Kyzikos frequently took inspiration for its coin types from the art of other Greek city-states’ coins and wares, however the present type does not quite conform to the Chimaera seen on either the coinage of Populonia or Sikyon. The former’s coins were not widely distributed and on those of the latter the goat always (and the serpent tail usually) faces front. On this occasion therefore it is probable that this depiction copies the design of a vase or other vessel which found its way to Kyzikos - see for example Louvre A478 for a c.560-550 Attic black figure cup with a similarly formatted chimaera.
Lot 513
Greco-Baktrian Kingdom, Eukratides I 'the Great' AR Tetradrachm. Circa 171-145 BC. Diademed and draped heroic bust left, holding spear, wearing helmet adorned with bull's horn and ear / The Dioskouroi on horseback right, each holding spear and palm; BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY EYKPATIΔOY around, monogram to lower right. Bopearachchi 8B; SNG ANS 485; Mitchiner 179a. 16.99g, 34mm, 11h. Near Extremely Fine. A superb example of this iconic type. This remarkable tetradrachm of Eukratides I represents a pinnacle of Hellenistic numismatic portraiture. Depicting him in an unprecedented way as a helmeted warrior with a nude and muscular back, diadem ties flowing down it, and in a posture of preparing to strike with a spear or javelin. This image succeeds marvellously in evoking the romantic spirit of the by-gone golden age of Greek glory as embodied by heroes such as Leonidas and Epaminondas, who as tradition dictated, would fight in the front rank alongside their soldiers to lead and inspire by example. Such a posture was well known in Greek art and sculpture, being not only the typical stance of the Greek hoplite warrior, but also of the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Athena, most famously preserved in the form of the Artemision Bronze statue now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Eukratides' stance is also reminiscent of the coins of Demetrios Poliorketes and Diodotos I, who both issued tetradrachms featuring a naked Poseidon and Zeus, respectively, wielding their weapons in a similar overarm stance; there however, the whole bodies were shown. Eukratides' use of this classic form to depict himself was an innovation that clearly made a lasting impression - the portrait type would be copied by successive Greek kings in India, and would later be adopted by several Roman emperors from the time of Septimius Severus onwards, as the role of the emperor became increasingly militarized in nature.
Lot 533
Central Italy, uncertain mint Æ Currency Bar. Circa 6th-4th centuries BC. ‘Ramo secco’ pattern on each side. ICC pp. 26-7, 3; Garrucci pp. 5-8, pls. 7-11; Haeberlin pp.10-19, pls. 6-8; ERC III pp. 207- 212; CMRR p. 4, 2; Craddock, P.T. and Meeks, N. ‘Italian currency bars’, in Italian Iron Age Artefacts, J. Swaddling (ed.), London 1986, pp. 127-130; D. Neri. ‘Aspetti premonetali e monetali nell'Emilia centrale, aes signatum e moneta greca da Castelfranco Emilia’, in QAER 1, Bologna 1998; E. Pellegrini and R. Macellari, I lingotti con il segno ramo secco, considerazioni su alcuni aspetti socio-economici nell'area etrusco-italica durante il periodo tardo arcaico, Biblioteca di ‘Studi Etruschi’ 38, Pisa-Roma 2002. 1865.00g, 148 x 74 x 30mm. One of the finest known examples. Extremely Rare. Ex Artemide 28, 10 April 2010, lot 1121; Published in The Collector’s International Magazine 12, Turin 1956, p. 59. From about the 6th century flat cast copper currency bars or ingots with a high ferruginous content appear, often bearing a cross-section design called by Italian numismatists ‘ramo secco’ (dry branch or twig). They appear in hoards throughout Italy and Sicily, with a concentration of finds in Etruria and the Padana, often together with aes rude lumps. They do not equate to a set weight standard and are usually found broken into subdivisions. Before denominated round coins were introduced in the early third century, all bronze transactions had to be weighed, and not counted, by dispensatoris (dispensers or cashiers). This manner of exchange necessitated the use of a balance and has left a rich legacy to the Latin language, e.g., expensa, inpendia, dependere, stipendia, aerarium, aestimare. Most striking of all was the formula per aes et libram (with bronze and balance), which was used to designate the formal ceremony of emancipatory contracts. All these terms lasted well beyond the introduction of struck coinage and have passed into modern languages. The Latin term aes signatum (signed or marked bronze) was used by Pliny (HN 33.13.43) for the cast currency bars supposedly issued by king Servius Tullius. These bars were frequently converted to aes rude. The term was misused by 19th and 20th century numismatists and has been avoided in this catalogue.
Lot 75
Sicily, Akragas (?) Æ weight with suspension loop. 66.39mm x 65.11mm x 66.56mm x 49.75 mm; 466g. Unusual and important for possessing a countermark and engraved Greek legends. Side 1 bears a circular 16mm countermark, depicting a crab seen from above, with possibly a crayfish below, obscured by the irregularity of strike. The style of the crab is similar to countermarks stamped on Akragantine hemilitrai, dated to the early 4th century BC (the time of Dionysios I, tyrant at Syracuse). Side 2 bears a Greek inscription in two rows: ΑΝΤΑΛΛΙΔΟΣ / ΝΜΕΟΝΙΟΣΟ. There are also traces of an obscure previous inscription, partially overlapped by the above letters. Side 3 bears a Greek inscription AΓΤΑΛΛΙΔΙΣ in one row, without evident traces of previous letters. The base displays a further Greek inscription, separated in two branches: ΚΙΚO / ΝΟ (Σ ?) This bronze weight seems to correspond to the standard Attic Solonian mina of 457.80 grams, i.e. to 105 Attic drachms (see Land & Crosby 1964, p.3-4; Milne 1945), then rounded to 100 drachms, with a difference of only 1.8%. Usually specimens of Attic mina weight have a square or rectangular form and a weight range from about 426 to 477 g, with a weight range of about 450-460 g (mean = 450.2 g; median = 453.4 g). The above looped specimen is therefore within the normal range observed for a mina weight of the Solonian system. The application of a countermark on bronze (or lead) Attic weights is attested, as on some specimens found in the Athenian agora. The use of a countermark with crab and crayfish, already seen on Akragas hemilitrai, seems to report to an Akragantine context. From a private English collection formed before 1939.
Lot 834
Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea Æ Bimetallic Medallion. Rome, special emission of AD 228-230. IMP SEVERVS ALEXANDER AVG IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Alexander facing draped bust of Mamaea, wearing stephane; MATER AVG below / FELICITAS TEMPORVM, Severus Alexander, draped, holding globe and mappa, seated left on curule chair and being crowned by Victory; Felicitas standing right, facing female standing left, in front. Gnecchi II, p. 84, 2. For an analogous issue of smaller module see the following references: Gnecchi III, pp. 44-5, 16 and pl. 153, 4-5; BMC, Roman Medallions p. 41, 1 pl. 40; BMC VI, 540; Toynbee cf. p. 147 note 5 and pl. 27, 2 (gold); RIC IV.II, 661. 42.27g, 37mm, 12h. Near Extremely Fine. Some very minor corrosion and encrustation, but otherwise pleasing patina. Of excellent style, obv. well struck in extremely high relief. Robert Carson attributed this type to the special issues of 228 (RIC IV pp. 69-70), but the engraving style and composition is similar to the securely VOT X dated medallions of AD 230, cf. Gnecchi III, p. 45, no. 20. Roman bimetallic medallions were donative by nature on behalf of the emperor or the senate and commemorated events, presentation pieces and diplomatic presents. From Antonine times they were produced in two metals, a central portion of soft copper and an outer rim of harder bronze which provided a large area for striking complex designs with oversized dies engraved by master die cutters. The present piece is an example of the work of just such a master die cutter, being of pleasing style and composition. Repeatedly criticised for being under the sway of women whist emperor, Severus Alexander was raised to the purple after his cousin Elagabalus was killed by his guards and his remains desecrated by being thown into the Tiber. Elagabalus had ruled in Rome for a scandalous four years, and after the excesses of his predecessor the peace time reign of Alexander was properous and settled. The reverse type used on this medallion marks just that, with FELICITAS TEMPORVM (Prosperity of the Times) marking a ‘Golden Age’ mentality that the young emperor and his mother were keen to promote. However, the peace was not to last as the Sasanian Persian army rose in the east under Ardashir I, giving cause for Alexander to lead the Roman army against them. Although some successes were achieved and the Sasanids checked for a time, it was during his Germanic campaigns in 235 that the peace built by Alexander and Mamaea finally broke completely when the emperor was murdered by his own troops, leading to nearly fifty years of civil wars, foreign invasion, and collapse of the monetary system.
Lot 957
Municipal coinage of Rome Æ 20 Nummi. Municipal coinage of Rome, AD 526-534. INVICTA ROMA, draped bust of Roma to right, wearing crested helmet, pendant earring and necklace / She-wolf standing to left, head turned back to watch the two infants Romulus and Remus suckling; two stars flanking Chi-Rho above, mark of value XX below. Hahn, MEC 99, MIB 71c (Theoderic); Kraus 29; Metlich 84b. 6.64g, 19mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare, and one of the very finest surviving coins from the reign of Athalaric. An exceptional example of the type, struck from dies of what may almost be described as fine. Although Rome in 526-534 was under Ostrogothic rule, the governance of the city and Italy in general as established by Theoderic was a civilised and relatively enlightened one. Theoderic had sought to revive Roman culture and self-government, and while he was at once king of the Goths, he was also the successor (though without any imperial titles) of the West Roman Emperors. These two nations, differing in religion, manners and language, lived in parallel and side by side with each other, without the one greatly influencing the other, and each was ruled according to its own laws. After his death in 526 his grandson Athalaric ascended the throne, with his mother Amalsuntha as Queen and regent. Although the most noticeable of the bronze coins used in Italy under the Ostrogoths are the countermarked asses and other earlier types (see lot 943), in fact these did not make up the bulk of the copper coinage in circulation at that time. Under Odovacar and the Ostrogoths the Roman Senate enjoyed a brief Indian summer of power; amongst its activities was a revival of the ancient Senatorial privilege of minting in bronze, which after a very brief issue in the name of Zeno, then consisted of types purely Roman in character, making no reference to either imperial or royal authority. This revived Senatorial coinage features the helmeted bust of Roma along with the ironic obverse inscription INVICTA ROMA, and recalls the ancient silver coins of the Republic. The reverse types, when they are not a Roman eagle (see lots 949-950) refer to the mythical founding of Rome, with Romulus and Remus being suckled by the she-wolf (as on the present example), or a fig tree representing the ficus ruminalis beneath which the scene supposedly took place. This Senatorial coinage came to an end in 535/6 when it was briefly replaced by the portrait coins of Theodahad (see lot 961). In 537, after the occupation of Rome by the forces of Belisarius, this was in turn replaced by a regular ‘Byzantine’ imperial coinage in the name of Justinian. When Rome again fell under Ostrogothic control and the mint was reopened in 549, the coinage issued there was purely royal and Ostrogothic in character (see lot 965). This series may therefore be rightfully described as the final issue of coinage struck by the ancient Romans in their own name.
Lot 121
A collection of Warring States silvered bronze horse trappings, the three buckles arranged above a T-shape of one hundred and fourteen martingale or collar strap fittings, eight roundels surmounted by three masks and eight junctions for three straps cast with daodieh, the black mounting board 44 x 40.5cm (17.25 x 16in)
Lot 164
A Tibetan cupro-bronze group of Simhanada Avalokiteshvara together with an Indian bronze group of Siva, Parvati and Ganesh, the first depictining the Buddha seated on the back of a lion roaring as it reclines on a lotus plinth, 23cm (9 in) high, the parents seated arm in arm, she with her son on her knee, 13cm (5 in) high (2)
Lot 58
A Qianlong style censer modelled in the archaic bronze fashion, the brown glaze splashed and detailed in gold, the interior with a band of daodieh in relief on a turquoise ground within key fret gilt on the rim edge, the three feet in the form of masks and tongues, Qianlong seal mark, 30cm (11.75 in) diameter
Lot 297
COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS COMPRISING VICTORIA GOLDEN JUBILEE 1887, OBV DRAPED BUST, REV CROWN OVER CYPHER, BRONZE, CASED, 1977 ROYAL SILVER JUBILEE COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL, FROSTED SILVER, CASED (76G), SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL 1965, SILVER, CASED, APPROX 2OZS, CHARLIE CHAPLIN FROSTED SILVER, CASED, APPROX 1OZ AND GIBRALTAR CROWNS ROYAL SILVER WEDDING 1972, SILVER, CASED AND CROWN 1971, SILVER (.500), CASED
Lot 485
Hughes (G. Bernard). Small Antique Silverware, 1st edition, Batsford, 1957, black and white plates, original cloth in rubbed and worn dust jacket, together with Michaelis (Ronald F.), Old Domestic Base-Metal Candlesticks from the 13th to 19th Century, Produced in Bronze, Brass, Paktong and Pewter, reprint, 1937, black and white illustrations, original cloth in dust jacket, plus Crosby (Deborah), Victorian Pencils: Tools to Jewels, 1st edition, 1998, colour illustrated throughout, original cloth in dust jacket, plus Silver Novelties in the Gilded Age: 1870-1910, 1st edition, 2001, colour illustrated throughout, original cloth in dust jacket, all 4to, plus other silver and collecting reference including some paperbacks (approx. 60)
Lot 445
An upholstered daybed by H. W. West for Sir Cecil Beaton for Reddish House, with a loose cover on bronze feet, 75.5cm high, 155cm wide, 67cm deep. Provenance: Bought by the present vendors from the Reddish House Sale, Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, Christie's, 9th-10th June, 1980, lot 128. This daybed was made for Sir Cecil by H. W. West of Fulham and was inspired by the Giacometti furniture in his collection.
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