At first sight it is an inconspicuous, but charming little box, shaped like a book. It had been scheduled to be offered on 12 April 2019 with lot number 485 in the auction‚ titled Important Russian and Greek Icons, at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen Düsseldorf.
Despite arousing international interest and attracting numerous bidders, the item had to be removed from the list shortly before it was auctioned off. Byzantine art expert Maria Paphiti intervened by pointing to the true ownership of the item. A detailed published description of the casket dated 1912, as well as the living eyewitnesses know, the reliquary once belonged to the treasury of the church of St Mamas in Morphou, Cyprus. Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the subsequent occupation of the island’s Northern part, the reliquary, like many other art treasures and cultural artefacts, were stolen and traded abroad.
Unfortunately, the heiress of a deceased icon collector from Northern Germany who consigned the object to the auction had been unable to trace its journey to Germany and its prior history due to the lack of documents.
The managing directors of Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen GmbH, Susanne and Frank Hargesheimer, decided to purchase the reliquary from the consignor in order to donate it as a gift to the rightful owner, the Metropolis of Morphou.
The reliquary casket has the form of a leather bound book. The lid opens to reveal in the centre Saint Mamas riding a lion, surrounded by four saints. The box includes relics of the portrayed figures, as well as of other saints. The relics are fastened on a metal plaque, which is engraved with the date, the year 1835.
Numerous, sometimes contradictory myths tell of the life of the saint who was executed as a martyr in the 2nd century. In the late Middle Ages, Saint Mamas was greatly venerated, especially on the island of Cyprus. Legend has it that the saint’s coffin floated to Cyprus after his parents released it to the sea. In the following years Mamas was turned into a Cypriot: he lived on the island as a hermit. According to another legend, he had been arrested for non-payment of a poll tax. When he arrived at the governor’s palace, riding a lion and holding a lamb on his lap, he was assured lifelong tax exemption. He is therefore considered the patron saint of tax advisers (as well as tax officials, taxpayers and tax evaders).
It is hoped that one day soon, the reliquary casket will return to its natural location, the 18th century monastery of Saint Mamas in Morphou (currently Güzelyurt), which is decorated with arcades and built over the tomb of the saint.
The official and public handover of the reliquary to the representative of Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou, the Archimandrite Fotios Ioakeim, will take place on Tuesday 14 May 2019 at the premises of Hargesheimer auction house in Düsseldorf, in the presence of the Byzantine art expert Maria Paphiti, and representatives of the Embassy of Cyprus in Germany and the department of Antiquities in Cyprus.