Lot 385: A COLLECTION OF EIGHT ANTIQUE HARDSTONE AND GILT-METAL DESK SEALS, 19TH CENTURY

A collection of eight individual nineteenth-century desk seals featuring various hardstone handles and metal mounts. The assortment includes handles fashioned from carnelian, banded agate, bloodstone, onyx, and mother-of-pearl, with several featuring ornate foliate mounts in silver-tone and gilded finishes. One seal features a black-lacquered tapered handle decorated with gilded foliate and scroll patterns, set into a silver-tone foliate mount with a square matrix engraved with the letters AE in Gothic script. A smaller seal has a faceted translucent reddish-orange carnelian handle set in a dark metal mount with a plain square matrix. A tall, square-section black onyx seal features an applied blue enamel shield bearing three gold crowns, the national emblem of Sweden, set in a tiered brass mount with a circular matrix engraved with an elaborate interlaced script monogram. Other examples include a translucent brown stone seal with an ornate silver-tone foliate mount and a circular white matrix, and a tapered white mother-of-pearl seal engraved with a floral and leaf spray, set in a silver-tone mount with a square matrix engraved with the letters PM. A larger carnelian seal features a faceted orange handle and a silver-tone mount with a square matrix bearing a coronet above the letters EC in Gothic script. The two largest seals in the group consist of a multi-faceted banded agate handle with a heavy gilded foliate mount and a DN Gothic monogram, and a dark green bloodstone handle with red inclusions set in a gilded foliate mount with a DD Gothic monogram.

Largest, L: 9.3cm