Hans Jamnitzer workshop (c. 1570), Mercury sending Argos to Sleep and The Decapitation of Argos, a pair of lead plaques, the former with Mercury descending to Earth from Jupiter and in the foreground playing his flute to Argos who falls asleep, his dog at his feet, 182mm (Weber 287.1; Frederiks I, 60B; Jamnitzer [1995], 564), pierced, dark patina, an extremely fine contemporary cast; the latter with Mercury holding up the head of Argos whose corpse lies on the ground; Juno stands on the left with a peacock and appears again in the sky riding her chariot drawn by a pair of peacocks, 182mm (Weber 287.2; Frederiks I, 61C), three piercings, dark patina, a very fine contemporary cast; the pair uniformly set in red velvet mounts within gilt frames for displaying (frames 280mm square) (2) Ex Morton & Eden, 18 April 2002, lot 609.

Please note that these two plaques are the examples illustrated in Frederiks, Dutch Silver, volume I (1952).

Estimate: GBP 5000-7000