A Gold, Enamel and Gem-Set Hat or Bodkin Pin, dating from the 16th or 17th century and discovered by a metal detectorist in Lancashire, will be going under the hammer in the Spring Sale. The pin is shaped in the form of a bishop’s crozier, the handle decorated at the face with table-set white gems and at the reverse with turquoise-coloured enamel. The pin was found in the Yealand Conyers parish in Lancashire, just north of Carnforth, and bears a similarity to two pins that were part of the legendary Cheapside Hoard, the greatest single collection of Elizabethan and Stuart jewellery that was found by workmen in 1912.
The sale will also include a diverse range of antiques, with notable lots including a rare and impressively sized Victorian Carved Walnut Metamorphic Extending Dining Table with 13 leaves, made circa 1880, a Yewwood Wake Table dating from the 19th century, a Victorian Olive Wood and Ebonised Kneehole Desk possibly by Wright and Mansfield, and a Regency Rosewood and Brass-Inlaid Dwarf Cabinet in the Manner of George Bullock. Good clocks include a rare French Ormolu Singing Bird Automaton Clock, made circa 1850 and stamped Japy Freres to the backplate.
Amongst the ceramics and works of art in the sale are a circa 1745 Meissen Porcelain Figure Group of Medea and Jason, a Pair of Meissen Porcelain Vases dating from the late 19th century, and an Italian School 17th Century Bronze Portrait Bust of St Francis Xavier. Interesting, too, is a circa 1795 English Delft Side Plate, likely made in a Lambeth pottery decorated with a hot air balloon, marking the fight of Vincenzo Lunardi, who made the first balloon ascent in Britain in 1784.
Lot 327
A French Carved Walnut Six-Piece Lounge Suite,...
Sold for £1,300
Estimated at £1,500 - £2,000
Lot 344
A Double-Manual Harpsichord, by Vel-Zuckermann,...
Sold for £3,500
Estimated at £2,500 - £3,500
Lot 352
A Pair of Italian White Marble Urns on Stands,...
Sold for £1,700
Estimated at £1,500 - £2,000