17th century AD. A gilt-bronze repoussé mount with the central nimbate figure of the Mother of God receiving a sword on the heart, on a textured field surrounded by overlapping floral panels. See Bulgakov S.N. & Jakim B., Churchly joy: Orthodox devotions for the church, Cambridge, 2008 (1938"). 18 grams, 76mm (3"). Property of a London gentleman; acquired by his father in the 1970s; thence by descent. The mount offers the representation of the Virgin Mary of Sorrows, a catholic conception introduced in the Orthodox Holy Art in the territories dominated by the Roman Church. It recalls the words of Simeon to Saint Mary: a sword will pierce your heart (Luke Gospel, II, 22-38"). Most probably the work was realised in Venetian Crete, using the canons of the Post-Byzantine arts but catholic Roman iconography models.