Small Wonders: Early Gems and Jewels
Small Wonders: Early Gems and Jewels
Southern Italian, probably Palermo, Sicily, circa 1220-1240 | An Important Cameo with the Ascension of the Prophet Elijah to Heaven from the Imperial Treasury of the Holy Roman Emperors
Lot Closed
December 16, 01:16 PM GMT
Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Southern Italian, probably Palermo, Sicily, circa 1220-1240
An Important Cameo with the Ascension of the Prophet Elijah to Heaven from the Imperial Treasury of the Holy Roman Emperors
chalcedony, within a mid-16th-century enamelled gold mount with arabesques
inscribed in Hebrew to the reverse:
נעלה אליה לשמים
[Elijah was raised to Heaven]
cameo: 27 by 28.6mm., 1.06 by 1.12in.
35.3 by 37.8mm., 1.4 by 1.39in.
Imperial Treasury, Kaiserliche Schatzkammer, of the Holy Roman Emperors, Vienna, by 1619, in which year recorded in the inventory of Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (1557-1619);
by descent in the Imperial Treasury of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors, Vienna;
dispersed from the Imperial Treasury between 1750 and 1927;
private collection Germany, until circa 2007;
the present owner, United Kingdom
by descent in the Imperial Treasury of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors, Vienna;
dispersed from the Imperial Treasury between 1750 and 1927;
private collection Germany, until circa 2007;
the present owner, United Kingdom
1619 postmortem inventory of Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (1557-1619), no. 2289, 'Ain agata, in gold und schwarz geschmölzt eingefast, mit dem triumpfwagen,
auf der andern seithen mit frembden buechstaben';
1750 inventory of the Kaiserliche Schatzkammer, Vienna, 'Ein rundes
mitteres basrelief von onyx, worauf Elias, wie er in den himmel fahrt, ruckwerts eine
Hebreische schrift eingestochen, in gold gefast un schwarz geschmolzen';
Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses: 1899,
XCIV, no. 2289 (1619 inventory); and 1889, CCLVI, no.151 (1750 inventory).
auf der andern seithen mit frembden buechstaben';
1750 inventory of the Kaiserliche Schatzkammer, Vienna, 'Ein rundes
mitteres basrelief von onyx, worauf Elias, wie er in den himmel fahrt, ruckwerts eine
Hebreische schrift eingestochen, in gold gefast un schwarz geschmolzen';
Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses: 1899,
XCIV, no. 2289 (1619 inventory); and 1889, CCLVI, no.151 (1750 inventory).