Ethiopia: a large hand cross made of brass, cast and figurally engraved. Type: Gondar (north-west Ethiopia). 17th/18th century.
Ethiopia: a large hand cross made of brass, cast and figurally engraved. Type: Gondar (north-west Ethiopia). 17th/18th century.
A ‘hand cross’ belonging to a priest of the Ethiopian Christian Church. Made of cast brass and elaborately engraved with figural design. On the facade of the cross at the top: God the Father, below, the Holy Ghost as a dove, and below this, centrally placed, Jesus Christ on the cross. To the left and right of Jesus, three shooting stars. On the rectangular projection at the bottom: scene of a burial place, with two saints (the rectangular, lower ends of Ethiopian hand crosses were also generally called the ‘Tomb of Adam’). On the reverse of the cross at the top: a central image of Mary, surrounded by four heads of angels (in typical Gondar style). While at the bottom: Archangel Gabriel, with leaf-form terminus. The shaft of the cross is four-sided, with bevelled edges and round end pommels. Good, old traces of use (see at the central hilt area), no relevant damage.
Length: 32.5 cm; width: 10.2 cm (the cross alone, without base).
17th/18th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Purchased in Addis Abeba, since then: Belgian private collection.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
20.02.2017 - 14:00
- Realized price: **
-
EUR 688.-
- Starting bid:
-
EUR 380.-
Ethiopia: a large hand cross made of brass, cast and figurally engraved. Type: Gondar (north-west Ethiopia). 17th/18th century.
A ‘hand cross’ belonging to a priest of the Ethiopian Christian Church. Made of cast brass and elaborately engraved with figural design. On the facade of the cross at the top: God the Father, below, the Holy Ghost as a dove, and below this, centrally placed, Jesus Christ on the cross. To the left and right of Jesus, three shooting stars. On the rectangular projection at the bottom: scene of a burial place, with two saints (the rectangular, lower ends of Ethiopian hand crosses were also generally called the ‘Tomb of Adam’). On the reverse of the cross at the top: a central image of Mary, surrounded by four heads of angels (in typical Gondar style). While at the bottom: Archangel Gabriel, with leaf-form terminus. The shaft of the cross is four-sided, with bevelled edges and round end pommels. Good, old traces of use (see at the central hilt area), no relevant damage.
Length: 32.5 cm; width: 10.2 cm (the cross alone, without base).
17th/18th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Purchased in Addis Abeba, since then: Belgian private collection.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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| Auction: | Tribal Art |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 20.02.2017 - 14:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 11.02. - 20.02.2017 |
** Purchase price incl. buyer's premium and VAT
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