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Camden News - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 9 April 2009

The Byzantine icon

Saint who sat on the sideboard is sold for £39,000

Pensioner’s shock windfall for antique

THE icon of a saint kitted out for battle had sat on a sideboard in a Hampstead home for some years.
The collector, a pensioner and amateur antiques buff, did not recall quite where he had bought it or where and when it was from. When he decided to see if an auction house would sell it for him, he was told it would have a reserve price of £150.
On Thursday night, the icon – which experts now believe dates from around the 10th century and from the Byzantine period – was sold for a whopping £39,000.
Auctioneer Colin Smith, of Hampstead Art Auctions, said the surprise had set a new sale record for his business.
“It is carved from ivory and depicts a saint in a warrior pose,” he said. “It was brought in for a valuation so I took it to an expect who said it may be Byzantine and worth somewhere between £150 and £200.
“I went back to the vendor and he said put it in and let’s see what it reaches.”
As the Hampstead Community Centre auction started, it soon became obvious that the little saint was attracting big interest.
Mr Smith added: “We had one man in the room who was bidding for it – and then five others called through on phones and were bidding from abroad. The figures began to stack up and I realised we had something really special.”
The winning bid was made by a specialist dealer.
Mr Smith said breaking the news to the pensioner who owned the piece had given him great pleasure.
He added: “He did not come to the auction and so I had to ring him the next day and tell him the news.
“I told him to sit down and said it had done a little better than we originally thought it may do!”

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