Auction Highlights
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Egyptian Granite Head of a Dignitary
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
Carved with soft facial features and carefully executed cosmetic lines around the eye, earring, and carefully detailed duplex wig with gently wavy curls; likely from the Ramesside Period; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
Sold for (Inc. bp): £18,200
Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club resting on his shoulder and the hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath the Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Roman Marble Portrait of a Boy as Worshipper of Isis
Sold for (Inc. bp): £17,550
Carved head of a prepubescent worshipper of Isis, with soft facial features, long nose, small downturned mouth, heavy-lidded eyes, the whole giving the face a sombre or mournful appearance; the hair textured to indicate a short cut and combed forward across the scalp, sidelock above the right ear; mounted on a 16th century carved breccia upper body with leather cuirass and pteruges to right shoulder, cloak draped across the shoulders and fastened at the clavicle on the right side with a disc-brooch; socle base; some restoration. -
Larger Than Life-Size Roman Bronze Sandaled Foot
Sold for (Inc. bp): £39,000
Modelled in the round and originally part of a monumental statue, the naturalistic right foot encased in a trochades leather sandal with median reversed tongue secured with side straps and thick looped laces; the thick platform sole slightly curved, toes and nails well defined; mounted on a substantial custom-made display stand. -
Life-Size Roman Marble Sleeping Girl from a Sarcophagus Lid
Sold for (Inc. bp): £20,800
Modelled in the half-round, nude with eyelids half-closed in sleep; a drapery partly covering the head and wrapping around the lower body under the hips; the hairstyle similar to those of the Antonine Dynasty, the peaceful face supported by the hands and the ear pierced to accept an earring; iron reinforcing rod to the feet and the right arm's armilla a later replacement; upper head restored in Parian marble. -
Byzantine Porphyry Relief with Cross Surrounded by Two Birds
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
An imposing panel divided to four sections by a central cross on a stepped pedestal, the lower and upper arm with branch-like extensions; the upper quadrants with a circlet surrounding a palm tree-shaped motif; each lower quadrant with a bird in profile facing back; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Carved Marble Memento Mori Skull
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Carved skull on a short neck with musculature and blood vessels; mandible in place with some teeth in sockets, wisps of hair adhering to the dome of the skull; one zygomatic bone partly absent; square-section socle base. -
'The Kelton' Gandharan Head of a Bodhisattva
Sold for (Inc. bp): £24,700
Carved in the half-round head of a Bodhisattva (probably Maitreya) with fine detailing to the arched brow, aquiline nose, neat moustache and full lips; the eyes heavily lidded, urna to the forehead, long open lobes to the ears; the hair in multi-stranded curling locks gathered into an ushnisha with brow-band below; heavily cleaned, conserved, and mounted on a custom-made stand; supplied with original old wooden base with collector's label: 'Head of Bodhisattva / Fine grain schist / Gandhara, Northwest Pakistan / 4th century'.
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Sino-Tibetan Gilt Bronze Arya Tara Statuette
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £211
Standing on a tiered base with blooming flowers in her left hand, her right hand raised in a gesture of reassurance. 369 grams, 14.7 cm
Ex Cotswold collection, UK, 1990s. -
'Nuestra Senora de la Luz' Shipwreck Spoon and Fork Set
Early 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Both with rounded finial curved at the end. 69 grams total, 17-18.5 cm
Salvaged by Ruben Collado Amatriain in 1992. Accompanied by original signed declarations in both English and Spanish from Ms Mariana Faine Collado, daughter of Mr Ruben Collado Amatriain. -
Chinese Tang Terracotta Rhinoceros
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
A large figure showing the beast in an alert pose with raised head, flaring nostrils and pricked ears, the folds on the body indicated in red pigment; tail repaired. 5.54 kg, 53 cm long
Ex Hong Kong collection, 1990s. From a London, UK, collection. Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.02C26042024 from Laboratory Kotalla.
Rhinoceroses in ancient China were highly revered and the depictions in art are typically lifelike, the earliest example is a bronze zun vessel, which is thought to date to the 11th century B.C. During Tang Dynasty, tamed rhinos were presented by foreign embassies to the court. -
Ca Mau Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Dish Collection
Early 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Comprising six shallow plates: three with a dense floral border, central scene of a bird on a flower meadow; two with flowers within a hatched border; one with a flower bush before a fence. 468 grams total, 11-12 cm
Ex Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 29-31 January 2007. Accompanied by an illustrated information sheet about the Ca Mau shipwreck.
The Ca Mau shipwreck refers to a cargo of Chinese porcelain sunk between 1723 and 1735 off the coast of Vietnam. The wreck was discovered by Vietnamese fishermen in 1998. It is believed the wreck was a merchant’s junk on its way from Canton (Guangzhou) to Batavia when it caught fire and sank. The ship was carrying goods destined for Dutch traders who had limited access to China and its ports. -
Chinese Song Terracotta Tile with Cranes
Song Dynasty, 960-1279 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £124
Showing two cranes resting near the water's edge, one with its head tucked under the wing and standing on a rock, bamboo and other vegetation surrounding the pair. 4.95 kg, 33 cm
From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Diana Cargo Shipwreck Large Glazed Blue and White Lidded Terrine
Early 19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
The body with sloping walls and everted base, separately made pig-head handles, the long sides painted with a lakeside town scene composed of various building on islands, and an arched bridge to the foreground, two boats floating in the calm waters; the lid with a similar scenery and a wave-shaped handle; repaired. 2.88 kg total, 33 cm
Ex Christie's, Amsterdam, March 1995.
'The Diana' was owned by Palmer and Co. a powerful Calcutta ship owner and was licenced by the English East India Company to sail from Calcutta or Madras to Canton. On the 14th of March 1817, she hit rocks off the Straits of Malacca and sank. The wreck was identified and recovered in 1994 by Dorian Ball of Malaysian Historical Salvors. -
Hoi An Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Lidded Box Collection of Three
15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising three powder boxes with painted floral motifs to the lid and body. 305 grams total, 61-70 mm
Ex Butterfield and Butterfield auction with official Hoi An Hoard labels. Accompanied by an illustrated information sheet about the Hoi An shipwreck.
In the mid 15th century a freighting junk loaded with fine Vietnamese pottery sank in an area of the South China Sea called the 'Dragon’s Embrace.' This vessel is part of the shipwreck cargo recovered off the coast of Vietnam at Hoi An. The ceramics themselves were probably made in the area of Chu Dau. -
Chinese Ming Glazed Musician Figure
Ming-Qing Dynasty, 1368-1911 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Dressed in long dark-coloured robe with turquoise trims, hood pulled over her head leaving the front of the hair exposed, solemn expression with her eyes lowered, clasping a lute in her sleeve-covered arms. 201 grams, 24 cm
From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Ca Mau Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Child Figurine Group
Early 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Comprising three young child figures with chubby features and content expressions, hair tied to two small buns, belt tied at the waist. 226 grams total, 79-82 mm
Ex Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 29-31 January 2007. Accompanied by an illustrated information sheet about the Ca Mau shipwreck.
The Ca Mau shipwreck refers to a cargo of Chinese porcelain sunk between 1723 and 1735 off the coast of Vietnam. The wreck was discovered by Vietnamese fishermen in 1998. It is believed the wreck was a merchant’s junk on its way from Canton (Guangzhou) to Batavia when it caught fire and sank. The ship was carrying goods destined for Dutch traders who had limited access to China and its ports. -
Chinese Yuan Glazed Vase
Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Piriform body with flared and rolled rim, green glaze with circumferential band of swirls, leaf motifs to the shoulder; restored. 1.22 kg total, 24 cm high
Acquired from Ancient Art, London, UK, in 2011. Property of an Essex gentleman. -
Chinese Tang Glazed Dish
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £78
Broad profile with cream glaze and everted rim, low basal ring. 233 grams, 15 cm
Ex W.C. collection, UK. -
Thai Gilt Bronze Deity with Ghouls
19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Tiered rectangular base with figures climbing across the surface; central figure of Buddha in paridhana garment standing on a drum-shaped dais with skeletal figures. 1.6 kg, 28.1 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.