Auction Highlights
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Egyptian Relief with List of Offerings
Sold for (Inc. bp): £18,200
A section of tomb wall with a central register of eight rectangular panels each containing hieroglyphs naming offerings for the deceased; the top and bottom groups of eight rectangular panels each contain a depiction of a kneeling offering-bearer; all carved in high-relief; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Greek Red-Figure Hydria with Combat Scene Between Amazons and Greek or Trojan Heroes
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
The vessel with integral round-section upward-facing handles, a third, round-section handle placed vertically between shoulder and upper neck to rear; laurel sprigs to the neck with traces of gilding; combat scene with Amazons (and Trojans?) below, armed with short swords and crescent shields, most wearing an exomis leaving the shoulder and one breast uncovered; volute palmettes below both side-handles, a panel of tiered and swirling volutes to the rear, all on a band of egg-moulding, repeated around the rim; possibly Apulian or Campanian; restored. -
Greek Silver Wine Strainer
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Composed of a shallow bowl and broad flange rim, two integral scalloped handles with scrolled flourishes, tapering to a loop handle with swan head terminals each with incised eye and beak detailing; perforated whirl within roundel to interior base; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. -
Eastern Roman Bust of the Daughter of Aqima
Sold for (Inc. bp): £37,700
Modelled in the round with a fragment of stand to the rear; the figure carefully carved to exhibit the delicate facial features and elaborate hairstyle; the palla drawn up over the head and falling over the shoulders to the upper arms; a diadem to the brow with foliage and tendril detailing; elaborate earrings with dangles; necklace of fusiform and tubular beads and a longer one below with piriform plaques; large disc brooch to the left breast with dangles; peplos-style dress draped across the body beneath the palla; left arm bent and hand passing across the body to grasp the hem of the palla with a herringbone bracelet at the wrist; the palla displayed pinned with rosettes to the rear panel; with inscription of thirteen Palmyrene characters above the left shoulder 'NRW' // BRT // 'QM' // ḤBL' meaning 'daughter of Aqima'; traces of red and green pigment; mounted on a custom-made stand by Colin Bowles Ltd. -
Eastern Roman Mosaic Depicting a Bird
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
In a rectangular matrix; cream, olive, pink and other tesserae depicting a bird advancing with head bowed, with banded frame. -
Roman Marble Head of a Germanic Warrior
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
Modelled naturalistically in the round, directing his gaze upwards left, the eyes with sculpted pupils originally decorated with stone insertions, his face framed by voluminous short curls swept up off the forehead, sideburns and a moustache. -
Eastern Roman Mosaic Depicting a Bird
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
In a rectangular matrix; cream, olive, pink and other tesserae depicting a perching bird with rosette above. -
Monumental Byzantine Limestone Chi Rho Roundel
Sold for (Inc. bp): £36,400
Divided into six sections by Christogram letters chi and rho, two of the segments with Greek letters alpha and omega, the other four segments with floral ornaments; a laurel wreath to the edge; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Old Babylonian Clay Cuneiform Tablet, a Letter From a Local Governor in Arrapha to His Colleague in Ešnunna,
Sold for (Inc. bp): £8,450
Written across two principal faces and three side edges, reading: 1-2) Say to Zakur-ahum, thus says Uzazza, your brother. 3) I have read the tablet you sent me. You wrote to me as follows: 4-5)'Five nomadic Suteans plundered the district of Zippat and I sent a troop. 6-7) I drove them back. I prevented them from taking anything. 7-8) So this troop left empty-handed. It is to be feared that they will go to the land of Arrapha and raise havoc, take action!' 11) This is what you wrote to me, and I rejoiced greatly. 12) In your tablet is written:'500 nomadic Suteans'. 13) Now, your servants whom you sent to me told me this: 14) 'A troop of 1,500 men has come. 15) Among them were many men with bows.'16 This is what they told me. Now never 17) have there been archers among the nomad-Suteans. 18) Is it not to be feared that the heavily-equipped 19) part of a foreign army is here itself comprising the nomad-Suteans with their bows? 20) The (result of the) divination I found said: 'Fire will devour the base of the reed.' 21) [...] its ... will not reach me. 22-23) [Now], shall I rejoice over the heavily equipped troop (that is) there? 24) [...]. 25-26) Now investigate this troop. 26-27) Send a full report urgently one way or the other, 28-29) so that I may circulate [a swift messenger] so that 29-30) the whole country may be gathered [in my fortresses] and so that I may take action. 31-33) Moreover, earlier, nomadic Suteans assaulted the palace cowherds one evening and 33-34) carried away all the cows from the palace. They left nothing behind. 35-36) There are none left, including the cows they had been entrusted with that evening. The next day, 37) a rescue troop (sent) by Ašrum, in pursuit of them 38) went as far as the banks of the Euphrates, but 39 returned empty-handed. 39) Another thing, 40) concerning what you wrote to me: 41-42) 'Looters set up a siege instrument- kalbanatum against a fortified farm and killed people. In addition, they carried off ten oxen. 43) And Ašrum went in there. Check that 44 their oxen no longer disappear.' This is what you wrote to me. 45-46) Now, shall I rejoice in this matter, or shall I [not] [...] them [...]. 47-48) Now, is there a plunderer who can plunder on my watch? Now, when I hear (about them) 49-50) and as soon as I send a message, do I not put them on the pal? No doubt 51-52) these people are foreigners, but you consider them to be Arrapha inhabitants! Now, precisely according to what you've written to me, 53-54) I'm going to send a fast messenger to the very interior of Arrapha and carry out a check. ; repaired. -
Uruk Clay Pictographic Tablet Bearing an Economic Text Relating to Farm Produce
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
Written over two faces; lentoid cross-section. -
Italic Bronze Triple-Disc Cuirass
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,360
Matched pair of Samnite triangular breast and backplates, a suite of 'triple-disc' type, each with three repoussé panels with carinated rim, flat spandrel above and curved on the lower sides, with perforated edges to affix to a separate mail garment; rivetted loops to the shoulders for attachment of supporting straps, and similar lateral loops with portion of round-link chain in situ; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Roman Bronze Legionary Helmet with Inscription
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
Montefortino helmet with bulbous domed skull and a plain crest knob with flattened top; plain and flat neck guard with thickened rim; the front with punched Latin inscription 'A N CFN'; the surface largely covered in marine encrustations; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. -
Exceptional Neolithic Flint Dagger
Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,980
Finely knapped lentoid-section dagger with lateral recesses and square butt; old collector's label '281'. -
Massive Stone Age British Bifacial Lanceolate Flint Handaxe
Sold for (Inc. bp): £10,400
Long blade with small portion of cortex at the upper end, sharply tapering point with edges worked from both sides. -
Viking Age or Earlier Hacked Gold Trade Ingot
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
A slightly bent irregular bar of hacked gold with rectangular cross-section, showing evidence of compression and fracture to each end, some subtle transverse lines on both of the main surfaces. -
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Three-Dimensional Urnes Stirrup Apex Mount
Sold for (Inc. bp): £6,500
The substantial heater-shaped plaque with spectacular openwork Urnes style design, the standing beast with entwined tendrils, pronounced head at the apex, narrow ledge to the reverse and rivet holes to each corner with two rivets remaining. -
Medieval Glass Beaker with Prunts
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
Of tubular form with flared rim and applied collar to the foot, applied trails to the sidewall and four rows of prunts with applied blue-glass ornament. -
Medieval Gold Ring Set with Gemstones
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
With a slender D-section hoop, bevelled rectangular cell set with a garnet cabochon; satellite settings at the corners, each with a green cabochon (one absent), the ring preserved in the same condition as it was when found. -
'The Fressingfield' Medieval Gold Ring with Diamond
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
With plain circular hoop and square diamond-shaped bezel with replicant natural diamond crystal. -
'The Wingham' Gold 'Fortune Favours the Brave' Posy Ring
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,080
Broadly rectangular in cross-section and constructed from two sheets of gold; the external hoop carrying an etched decorative design comprised of a row of eight-armed stars in relief with a prominent horizontal line connecting the stars; the internal hoop with Latin inscription in block capitals reading '+FORTES FORTVNA IVVAT' translating to 'fortune favours the brave/strong'; straightened.
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Eastern Mediterranean Terracotta Jug
Iron Age, circa 700-500 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
With tapering rounded bottom, deep shoulder, tall neck pinched to a triangular shape spout, strap handle to the rear. 253 grams, 14.7 cm high
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Etruscan Bronze Pendant Group
Circa 8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
Comprising three pendant clusters, each a tube with balustered middle section and ribs, radiating loops at the lower end with suspended biconvex dangles. 90 grams total, 78 mm each
Acquired in the late 1970s. Ex Herr Bernhard Muller collection. with Galerie Ostracon, circa 2015. Accompanied by detailed collector's catalogue pages including description and photograph. -
Hellenistic Bronze Ring with Stag
Circa 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
With square-section shoulders, ellipsoid bezel with incuse stag motif within a linear border. 5.81 grams, 25.58 mm overall, 18.10 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)
Ex old English collection. London art market, pre 2000. Property of a London, UK, gentleman. -
Cypriot Terracotta Votive Horn
2100-1850 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Tapering square-section votive with transverse bands of dense linear hatching; repaired. 116 grams, 16.5 cm
From the celebrated personal collection of art formed by the famous anthropologist, artist, and television presenter Desmond Morris. with Christie’s, South Kensington, 14 May 2002, lot 19 (part). -
Etruscan Buffware Aryballos
8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
With a piriform body and narrow foot, deep shoulder and flange rim, strap handle to the rear; the rim and shoulder with radiating strokes, concentric bands to the body and foot, frieze of stylised running hounds below the shoulder. 34 grams, 63 mm high
Acquired 1980-1990s. From the private collection of H.N., Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK.
Proto-Corinthian aryballoi of the same type, probably of Etruscan manufacture, in buff-ware decorated with dark metallic, purple-maroon and red-brown bands have been found in the Veii excavations. John Boardman noted that the shape in Corinth barely survives the 7th century, but these small pots are still found in Etruscan graves of the first half, or at least the first quarter, of the 6th century B.C. -
Greek Attic Terracotta Lamp
Circa 6th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Squat terracotta bowl with large discus and broad nozzle, lateral lug handle. 55 grams, 69 mm
Ex P. A., Hertfordshire, UK, specialist collection of Greek art, 1980-1990s. c -
Cypriot Redware Cup with Wishbone Handle
1450-1200 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Cup or bowl of spherical shape, unpainted, fitted with a wishbone handle. 96 grams, 14 cm
Ex P.A., Hertfordshire, UK, specialist collection of Greek art, 1980-1990s.
The presence of Achaeans in Cyprus, in late Cypriot II, also significantly influenced the life of the island from a ceramic production point of view. The social changes and new habits that developed among the elites of the main urban centres of the island included elaborate funerary displays, a means through which the emerging elite could express its identity and differentiate itself from other social groups. The ceramic forms were often cups intended for elaborate libation rituals, symposia, or ceremonies equivalent to Near Eastern marzeah, during which drinking services including kraters for mixing wine, cups and jugs were used. Alongside the more elaborate Achaean pottery, local Cypriot pottery (white-slip and base-ring) was still in use. -
Archaic Greek Bronze Bird-Shaped Pendant
Circa 8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Formed as a stylised bird with elongated tail and neck, chevron-shaped foot, hooked beak, domed eye, large fan-shaped crest; loop to the back. 28.8 grams, 80 mm wide
Acquired from Arte Primitivo, New York City, U.S.A., circa 2010. Private collection of Professor Kenneth Graham, London, UK. -
Greek Gold Vessel-Shaped Pendant
Circa 4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Conical sheet-gold dangle with applied rim and three suspension loops, filigree detailing beneath the rim, four vertical braided filigree bands to the sidewall, granule cluster finial. 2.25 grams, 26 mm
UK private collection formed before 2000. Ex North London, UK, gallery. -
Hellenistic Bronze Ring with Warrior
Circa 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
With a round-section hoop and oval-shaped bezel, intaglio image of an advancing warrior holding a shield and a sword. 9.02 grams, 26.15 mm overall, 20.91 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)
Ex old English collection. London art market, pre 2000. Property of a London, UK, gentleman. -
Greek Terracotta Head of a Goddess
4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
With a delicately modelled face and full lips, hooped earrings visible from beneath her hair; the hair with central parting and pulled to a chignon at the nape of the neck; wearing a diadem with central embellishment; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 41.3 grams total, 75 mm high including stand
Ex French Sorbonne archaeology professor (deceased); 1960s -2000s.
These figurines were most probably manufactured in Hellenistic cities by craftsmen who used either light yellow or dark brown clay. After the firing, the surface of the clay became reddish, while the core became grey-brown. The majority of the figurines were made from untreated clay with many impurities, such as coarse grain. Due to the quality of the clay the surface of the figurines was often rugged, despite the retouch, but were painted with vivid colours. -
Archaic Greek Terracotta Figure of Mounted Warrior with Shield
7th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
The figure comprising a stylised horse with elongated neck, mounted by a bearded rider figure holding a shield; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 275 grams total, 14.5 cm high including stand
Acquired before 1990. From an old German collection.
Terracotta figurines of horse and rider were common grave offerings in Boeotia, northwest of Attica, particularly during the 6th century B.C. Representations of warriors on horseback were already widespread in the Geometric Period, and widely used in Cyprus during this period. The rider, although influenced by Cypriot designs, does not show typical Cypriot characteristics.