A stamp belonging to Empress Catherine the Great has sold for £22,900 after being found in an old bric-a-brac biscuit tin.
The gold seal dates back to the 1780s and would have been used at the Russian royal court as an official seal.
It was commissioned by the Empress together with a second seal of the same design that is kept in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
A horse and a lion have been carved in the carnelian stone surrounded by a gold mount.
This stamp, which once belonged to Empress Catherine the Great, was discovered on an old biscuit tin during a routine valuation in north London.
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They were made by the revered gem-cutter Charles Brown based on the “Horse Frightened by a Lion” design by painter George Stubbs.
It is believed to have been brought to England by a member of the London-based Mellish merchant family.
The 1.5-inch by 1-inch seal had been in the same family for more than 100 years and passed down through four generations.
It was discovered by Daisy Hartley, a jewelry expert, during a routine appraisal of a north London property.
They presented him with a cookie tin with a variety of items from antique jewelry to razors.
The seal was hidden in the bottom of the tin and needed cleaning before Mrs. Hartley realized what it was.
He was struck by the quality of the gold setting and the crisp intaglio carving within the deep red stone.
It auctioned at Hartley Auctions of Ilkley, West Yorkshire for £19,000, with additional fees bringing the total paid to £22,990.
In 2021, a letter from Catherine to Count Pyotr Rumyantsev from April 1787 warning of the danger posed by smallpox sold at auction for over £1 million along with a portrait of the Empress.
She had previously ordered an English doctor to go to Russia to vaccinate her and her family against smallpox.
Commenting on the most recent sale, auctioneer Charles Hartley said: “I am very proud to have presented this rare and very interesting historical piece that was found in the least likely places.”
This particular stamp was one of two sold by Charles Brown to Catherine the Great.
An outside expert has suggested that this could have been the original stone and that the one in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, was the second to be carved.
“After they were made for the empress, they worked almost exclusively for her until her death in 1796.
“We believe it was brought back to England by the London-based Mellish merchant family before passing into the seller’s family, where it has remained for over 100 years.”
