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![A pendant set multi-coloured hard stone and glass; together with two other large coloured glass set pendants. [3]](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/ca050104-f061-463f-bdcc-a5a3008d0c65/21963636-2bb1-446b-beb6-08458859ed36/468x382.jpg)
Lot 439
CREASY (E), Illustrations of Stone Church, Kent, 1840, folio, plates, foxing, binding detached; SHEPHERD (G) et al. Virtue's Picturesque Beauties of Great Britain, Kent, 4to, plates, staining; PUGIN (A.) Specimens of Normandy Architecture, 1827, 4to, plates, foxing, cloth; French Revolution. Tableaux Historiques de la Revolution Francaise, circa 1800, folio, lacking title, 24 engraved plates after Prieur, worn binding. Sold not subject to return (4)
Lot 353
GLADSTONE (Herbert, MP) Collection of 12 vols. with his bookplate, another with Mary Gladstone's bookplate; one of which inscribed by W. Gladstone; including - STRAUS (R) Carriages and Coaches, 1912, illustrated, cloth, gilt spine; RAE (W F) Wilkes, Sheridan, Fox, 1874, author's inscription to H. Gladstone at head of title; EVANS (Sir J) The Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain, 2nd edition 1897, cloth, spine faded (13)
Lot 416
NAIPAUL (V.S.) Nine works, first editions in dust wrappers, including: Mr Stone and the Knights Companion, 1963; The Overcrowded Barracoon, 1972; Guerillas, 1975; A Bend in the River, 1979; A Congo Diary, 1980, no. 292 of 330 copies, signed; four others; together with four works by William GOLDING including The Spire, 1964, and The Scorpion God, 1971; and three others by J. M. COETZEE (16)
Lot 273
1st-3rd century AD. A group comprising; stone palette with old repair; two tweezers; spatula with rounded spear shape and raised bands to the hilt; two spoons, one bowl-shaped, the other leaf-shaped; bodkin; curette with small, flat end slightly at an angle; leaf-shaped scalpel with remains of iron blade fitted into opposite end. Property of a Surrey collector; acquired in the early 1970s. 183 grams total, 4.5-18.5cm (1 3/4 - 7 1/4"). Fine condition.
Lot 33
2nd-1st century BC. A large oval cameo of smoky quartz displaying the head of the Gorgon Medusa in high relief studied by Professor Dr. Bernhard Overbeck of Staatlichen Münzsammlung Munich (Hellenistic period, later Augustus); finely carved facial features and eyebrows, abundant hair twisted and formed into wavy locks flanked by wings to the temples; snakes beneath the chin forming a Herculean knot; in an old silver mount. Property of a Surrey collector; formerly with Pierre Bergé, Brussels, Belgium, 1 December 2011, lot 372 (55,000-60,000 euros); previously in a private collection formed in the early 1980s. See Lapatin, K. Luxus: the Luxury Arts of Greece and Rome, Los Angeles, 2015; H. Gebhart, Gemmen und Kameen, Berlin, 1925, p.63, fig.74. Chiesa, G.S. Gem dalla corte imperiale alla corte Celeste, Milan, 2002, p.36, fig.6. Accompanied by a French export licence and an exposé by Professor Dr. Bernhard Overbeck. This cameo, according to Dr. Bernhard Overbeck, can be compared stylistically an amethyst in the Colonna collection in Rome, and a sardonyx in the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. Professor Overbeck comments that this cameo bears many similarities to the Medusa head on the underside of the Tazza Farnese, a sardonyx cup that was carved in Alexandria in the second century BC to celebrate the marriage of Ptolemy VIII to Cleopatra III. Ancient methods of hardstone carving were based on principles that are still used today. The pieces were worked by manipulating various drills against them. The actual cutting was accomplished not with the point of the drill itself but by using the drill to rub powders into the stone. Hellenistic cameos are almost exclusively made from sardonyx and so this piece, being in smoky quartz, is a very rare example. In style Hellenistic cameos, as well as intaglios, exhibit in miniature the qualities of Hellenistic sculpture. They continue and develop the styles of earlier artists, such as Praxiteles, in the softness of the features, but also a passion and pathos that is seen in Lysippus and Scopas, both noted sculptors of the Hellenistic period. Pathos is most clearly depicted in the Medusa images of this time, as seen on this cameo, and the Tazza Farnese. This cameo displays the soft lines and crisp carving associated with Hellenistic court artists and Professor Overbeck is in little doubt as to the dating of this piece to the Hellenistic period due to the composition of the hair and the rendering of the wings and snakes; Medusa heads from later periods tend to be different and of a simpler design. He also notes similarities to an amethyst cameo from the Colonna Collection in Rome, which is also dated to the Hellenistic period and is comparable in its details and composition. Although somewhat stylised, the facial features of this cameo do suggest portraiture, and it is possible that the cameo depicts either Berenike II or Arsinoe II, both popular subjects for cameos, such as the amethyst cameo of Arsinoe II now in the Walters Art Museum, (accession number 42.190"). The mask of Medusa, or Gorgoneion, was believed to ward off evil, as well as to provide properties for renewed life; in Greek mythology the blood of Medusa was believed to bring the dead back to life. This piece was clearly meant to be worn, as seen in the attachment pin at the back. It may have been worn as a pendant or even as part of a diadem, as seen in the Hellenistic cameo that was attached to a Sarmatian gold crown from the Khokhlach burial mound, Rostov region, Russia, and now in the State Hermitage Museum, (inventory number 2213-2.) This cameo is an important piece that was most likely produced at one of the major Hellenistic capitals, most likely Alexandria, and produced for an élite member of society, such as a member of the Ptolemaic royal family. In the Hellenistic period the carving of small hardstones with figures of mythological characters or with portraits of rulers reached its peak. These were much admired by the Romans, as well as by later cultures, for their technical skill and aesthetic beauty. The practice of carving cameos was introduced by the Greeks in the fifth century BC, and with the emergence of the Hellenistic kingdoms after the death of Alexander the Great, master craftsmen set up workshops in the cities of these new empires, such as Antioch. The most noted cameo carvers were based in Alexandria and patronised by the Ptolemaic court. The Gorgons were daughters of Ceto and Phorcys. Of the three, Medusa alone was mortal. They were evil creatures of such ugliness that anyone who looked at them died petrified. Their heads were surrounded by snakes and they were provided with golden wings that allowed them to fly. Only Poseidon was not afraid of Medusa. She was beheaded by Perseus; from her severed neck Poseidon created two beings Pegasus, the winged horse, and Chrysaor, the warrior brandishing a golden sword. Medusa has often been depicted on cameos in Greek iconographic schemes where the treatment of the hair as wings and snakes may vary. The apotropaic aspect of the Gorgon's head is reinforced by the Herculean knot formed by snakes, her half open mouth and the accentuation of the expression of the eyes. 66 grams, 50mm (2"). Very fine condition.
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