Marble architectural roundel made in southern Italy or Sicily in the 12th or 13th century, £44,000 at Roseberys.
Made in southern Italy or Sicily in the 12th or 13th century, this panel would originally have been set into the wall of a grand building, either a public edifice, or the private residence of a high-status individual.
The motif is known from Siculo-Arabic carved ivory caskets and textiles with near-identical birds of prey with rabbits found in the 12th century muqarnas ceiling of the Capella Palatina, Palermo, that was made by Fatimid craftsmen from north Africa.
A similar Italo-Islamic black marble roundel depicting two confronting birds with entwined necks was sold for £95,000 at Sotheby’s in April 2008.
Roseberys’ example was guided at £5000-7000 in south London and sold well above this, at £44,000.
