Set of religious crosses
Purchased these crosses from small local dealers in Baalbeck, north east Lebanon and the coastal city of Byblos. Such items are often found in this acropolis type area during construction work and come to market. Am interested in the old Christian history of Lebanon and think a number of these items may be Byzantine in origin? The cross with dove (10x6.5cm) was sold to me as being 1st millennium. Of the other two small crosses (4x3cm) and the oval one (6.5 x 4.5 cm) he was not sure. Neither am I clear on the bigger one with a pin (18x12cm) with flowery extensions which seems younger to me and may have been used in religious ceremonies and plugged into something? I am aware that I will probably not be able to legally sell these item to a licensed dealer in e.g. Europe (?) because they originates in Lebanon and have no certified provenance. Am also not planning to as it is not part of my personal and private collection. Still I would be interested to find out about the story of this item and items such as these and what the approximate value would be if provenance etc could be properly established.
local dealers in Lebanon
Gallery/Dealer
No
Thank you for submitting your item for appraisal. The large cross appears to be a cast iron orthodox cross, possibly 19th century. The small pendant with the outlines of christ might be 6th century mid byzantine, the small cross pendant with the missing enamel might be 10th century, the egg shaped and the other small cross pendant are most likely recent fakes. This area has a long history regarding the christian faith, but keep in mind that lots of pilgrims ( and forgers) added to the number of crosses you might come across there (pun intended). With the necessary paperwork ( which you can´t provide) the authentic crosses might sell below 200 USD.
