Lot 0256
Pilgrimage Icon with the Agony in the Garden on Olive Wood, Jerusalem, Russian workshop, 2nd half of the 19th century
Estimate: 4000-6000€
Pilgrimage Icon with the Agony in the Garden
Jerusalem. Russian icon painter, second half of the 19th century.
Olive-wood slice, oil paint. Dimensions:
24.5 × 16.5 cm.
A pilgrimage icon painted on a naturally cut slice of olive wood, depicting Christ in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before the apparition of the angel. The composition is rendered in an academic manner, with Christ shown kneeling in the foreground, draped in rose and deep blue robes, while the angel, vested in luminous white, appears above in a burst of soft golden light. The irregular contour of the olive-wood support preserves the character of the object as a devotional work intimately bound to the sacred landscape of the Holy Land.
Icons painted on sections of olive wood were among the most characteristic forms of pilgrimage production in Jerusalem during the second half of the 19th century. Their material carried a particular resonance, recalling the trees of Gethsemane and thus giving the image an added devotional immediacy. The present example stands out for its unusually large size and for the quality of its execution, which elevates it above the more modest, mass-produced eulogiae commonly brought back by pilgrims.
Of special interest is the reverse, which bears a red wax seal with initials surrounding a four-pointed cross, together with the handwritten date “1910.” This inscription likely records a later moment in the history of the icon, perhaps its presentation or donation. The seal has been associated, with some caution, with the circle of the Russian ecclesiastical mission in Jerusalem and may relate to the legacy of Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin, the honoured head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in the Holy Land and one of the principal architects of Russian pilgrimage culture in Palestine. In this way, the icon may be understood not only as a personal object of devotion, but also as a tangible relic of the Russian religious presence in Jerusalem.
Starting price: 3500€
Estimate: 4000-6000€
Hammer Price: €
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Lot 0257
Icon of the Mother of God “Skoroposlushnitsa (Gorgoepikoos)”, Mount Athos, circa 1900
Estimate: 7500-9000€
Lot 0257
Icon of the Mother of God “Skoroposlushnitsa (Gorgoepikoos)”, Mount Athos, circa 1900
Estimate: 7500-9000€ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “SKOROPOSLUSHNITSA” (Gorgoepikoos)
Greece, Mount Athos, circa 1900. Wood, gesso, oil, gilding. Dimensions: 26.5 × 22 cm
Inscriptions and stamps: on the reverse, a stamp of the Holy Mountain of Athos (Iera Epistasia, “ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΝ”) and a circular seal; below, an ink inscription in Russian: “This authentic icon was received from the Holy Mount Athos, from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery.”
This icon represents the Mother of God in the Hodegetria type, the Guide or She Who Shows the Way. The Virgin, crowned and half-length, supports the Christ Child on her left arm and gestures toward Him with her right hand, directing the viewer’s devotion to the Incarnate Logos. The Christ Child, seated frontally, holds a rolled scroll. The background is entirely gilded, while the haloes are subtly tooled, lending the surface a restrained ceremonial brilliance. In the field appear the customary inscriptions: the Greek abbreviations for the Mother of God, the Christogram beside the Child, and, at left, the title identifying the image as the Most Holy Mother of God “Skoroposlushnitsa.”
The icon is an Athonite replica of the miracle-working Skoroposlushnitsa image displayed at the Monastery of Dochiariou. The original prototype was a wall painting of the 10th or 11th century, located near the entrance to the monastery refectory. Its special veneration is connected with the well-known Athonite tradition of the cellarer Nilus, who in 1664 received both rebuke and healing through the voice of the Mother of God. From that time onward, the image acquired fame as a wonderworking shrine, especially revered for its swift response to prayer.
Particularly significant are the marks on the reverse, which preserve the devotional biography of the present work. The official Athonite stamps indicate authorization for its departure from the Holy Mountain, while the inscription confirms its association with the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. Such details place the icon within the wide circulation of Athonite blessing images produced for pilgrims and benefactors, yet this example rises above the merely documentary by virtue of its refined execution and its well-preserved liturgical character.
The history of the Russian veneration of the Skoroposlushnitsa is closely linked with Hieromonk Arsenii (Alexander Minin, 1823-1879), a noted spiritual writer and publisher from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. Having come to Russia in 1862 to collect donations for the monastery, he brought to Moscow in 1866 a portion of the relics of the Great Martyr Panteleimon together with an icon of the Mother of God Skoroposlushnitsa. From that moment the cult of this image spread widely in Russia. At first the holy objects were housed in the Epiphany Monastery in Moscow; in 1870 a special Athonite chapel was erected for them at the corner of Nikolskaya Street and Bogoyavlensky Lane. The chapel was closed and demolished in 1929.Starting price: 6000€
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Lot 0255
Pilgrimage Icon of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr on Stone, Palestine, late 19th century
Estimate: 5000-7000€
Lot 0255
Pilgrimage Icon of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr on Stone, Palestine, late 19th century
Estimate: 5000-7000€Pilgrimage Icon of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr. Palestine, late 19th century. Stone, oil paint. Dimesniosn: 14.5 × 11 cm.
A pilgrimage icon painted on a naturally shaped stone plaque, depicting Saint Catherine the Great Martyr standing full-length against a simplified landscape ground. The saint is shown crowned and haloed, vested in richly ornamented garments, with her traditional attribute of the martyr’s wheel placed beside her. The irregular contour of the support, together with the plain reverse fitted with a suspension loop, preserves the character of the object as a devotional souvenir brought from the Holy Land.
Such icons, acquired by pilgrims in Jerusalem and other sacred places, held a particular place in Russian Orthodox devotional culture. They functioned not only as commemorative eulogiae, but also as intimate objects of private piety. Kept in domestic icon corners, donated to churches and monasteries, or handed down as family relics, they were valued for their direct material connection with the sacred geography of Palestine. In works of this kind, the tangible substance of the stone itself, often believed to have come from the banks of the River Jordan or other holy sites, intensified the devotional meaning of the image and transformed a modest painted object into a cherished relic of pilgrimage.Starting price: 4000€
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Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0258
Icon of the Mother of God Khtitorissa of Vatopedi with Saints John the Theologian and Parthenios, Mount Athos, late 18th–early 19th century
Estimate: 4000-6000€
Lot 0258
Icon of the Mother of God Khtitorissa of Vatopedi with Saints John the Theologian and Parthenios, Mount Athos, late 18th–early 19th century
Estimate: 4000-6000€ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD KHTITORISSA OF VATOPEDI WITH SAINTS JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN AND PARTHENIOS, BISHOP OF LAMPSAKOS
Greece, Mount Athos (?), late 18th to early 19th century. Wood, levkas, tempera . Dimensions: 28.5 × 23 cm
Provenance: formerly in the possession of the Greek monk Parthenios.
This icon presents a refined and unusually elaborate variant of the Vatopedi Khtitorissa iconography. The Virgin enthroned with the Christ Child occupies the center of the composition, while two angels descending in cloud-borne segments place a crown upon her head. In the miraculous prototype of the Vatopedi monastery, the crown belongs to the revetment; here it has been fully integrated into the painted image, lending the composition greater ceremonial splendor. The Christ Child, instead of the customary scroll, holds a Gospel bound in a precious cover, a variant known in later painted replicas of revered miracle-working icons.
At either side of the central group stand two full-length saints, compressed into the narrow vertical spaces between the principal composition and the side margins. To the viewer’s right appears Saint John the Theologian, accompanied below by his symbolic eagle. To the left stands Saint Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos. Along the lower border runs a cursive owner’s inscription which may be translated: “Supplication of the servant of God, the monk Parthenios.” The icon was most likely ordered by an Athonite monk named Parthenios, probably a member of the Vatopedi monastery, who wished to possess an image of the monastery’s venerated wonderworking shrine, joined with the figure of his name saint, Saint Parthenios of Lampsakos, shown in prayerful intercession before the Mother of God.
The inclusion of Saint John the Theologian may also reflect the patron’s Greek devotional identity. The Evangelist’s close association with the island of Patmos, where according to tradition he received and wrote the Apocalypse, would have carried particular resonance for a Greek monk and pilgrim milieu. The icon thus unites personal piety, monastic devotion, and local sacred geography within a single, carefully conceived image.Starting price: 3500€
Estimate: 4000-6000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0254
Art Deco Style Platinum, Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant Necklace
Estimate: 25000-30000€
Lot 0254
Art Deco Style Platinum, Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant Necklace
Estimate: 25000-30000€Art Deco Style Platinum, Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant Necklace
An impressive platinum pendant necklace of strongly geometric Art Deco style, centered by a large emerald-cut aquamarine within an architectural diamond-set frame, the stepped outline further enriched with diamond-set side panels and a diamond-set articulated surmount. The pendant is suspended from a platinum chain with decorative openwork links, complementing the period-inspired design.
The reverse and side views show pierced and millegrain-style detailing characteristic of high-quality geometric jewel mounts. The clasp appears marked 950, consistent with platinum fineness, while the accompanying 2008 appraisal describes the jewel as solid platinum.
Accompanied by a 2008 Dover Diamonds Appraisal, which describes the necklace as set with one genuine blue aquamarine of approximately 40.00 carats and 90 European-cut diamonds of approximately 4.50 carats total, graded H–I color, VS clarity; the appraisal also notes a gross weight of approximately 28.7 grams, pendant length of about 2¼ inches, chain length of about 20 inches, and an appraised value at that time of USD 17,500. A separate gemmological note in Estonian appears to repeat broadly similar information, including aquamarine, diamonds, approximately 40 pcs, H/I color, VS clarity, and a combined stone weight notation around 4.50 ct, but this handwritten note is not fully legible in all parts. These documents are useful supporting papers, though I cannot independently confirm the exact stone weights, natural origin, or grading without a modern gemmological report.
Material: platinum
Stones: one large emerald-cut aquamarine, numerous diamonds
Pendant length: approx. 2¼ in. / approx. 5.7 cm
Chain length: approx. 20 in. / approx. 50.8 cm
Weight: approx. 28.7 g
Auction Comparison:
For comparison, Bonhams sold an Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant/Necklace, circa 1940 in the Knightsbridge Jewels sale on 26 November 2025 as Lot 361, for £20,480 including premium. Bonhams described that example as set with a step-cut aquamarine weighing approximately 27.70 carats and diamonds totaling approximately 3.00 carats. By contrast, the present necklace is accompanied by an appraisal describing its aquamarine at approximately 40.00 carats, indicating a substantially larger center stone than the Bonhams example.Starting price: 20000€
Estimate: 25000-30000€
Hammer Price: €