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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Large Tek Sing Shipwreck Blue and White Bowl
19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Footed bowl with painted blue floral motifs and circumferential lines, rosette to inner centre and signature to underside. 423 grams, 16.5 cm
Property of a North London, UK, gentleman.
The Tek Sing (True Star) wreck is one of the famous recovery stories of the 20th century. Sailing from the port of Xiamen (then known as Amoy) in February 1822 the vessel Tek Sing was bound for Jakarta, Indonesia laden with porcelain goods and 1600 Chinese emigrants. The captain decided to pass through the Gaspar Strait, between the Bangka-Belitung Islands, and ran aground on a reef. The vessel sank in about 100 feet of water. The next morning, February 7, an English East Indiaman captained by James Pearl, passing through the same waters, encountered debris and some survivors and managed to rescue about 190 of the latter. -
Chinese Painted Terracotta Neolithic Jar
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £202
With biconvex profile, broad shoulder, short cylindrical neck with everted rim to the mouth; one broad loop handle to the equator and another to the shoulder; painted geometric motifs. 1.04 kg, 22 cm
North Yorkshire, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Chinese Tang Glazed Dish
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £91
Broad profile with light blue glaze, low basal ring. 173 grams, 15 cm
Ex W.C. collection, UK. -
Chinese Song Terracotta Tile with Deity
Song Dynasty, 960-1279 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £117
Circular recess with high-relief modelled figure of Mahākāla sitting cross-legged on a lotus dais, six arms holding various symbols. 4.9 kg, 28.5 cm
From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Hoi An Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Lidded Powder Box Collection
15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising three powder boxes painted with scrolled tendrils and diamond-shaped panels, the lid with a floral motif. 378 grams total, 72-77 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 Song Terracotta Tile with Traveller
Song Dynasty, 960-1279 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £117
Showing a bearded traveller walking over a double-arched bridge, holding luggage over his left shoulder, with foliage behind; the scene enclosed in a roundel with raised edge. 3.5 kg, 27 cm wide
From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Chinese Tang Glazed Dish
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £91
Broad profile with green glaze, low basal ring. 268 grams, 15 cm
Ex W.C. collection, UK. -
Hoi An Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Bowl Pair
15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Both with a bell-shaped body and low foot; painted petals radiating from the basal ring, the insides with simple decoration. 244 grams total, 85 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 Neolithic Pottery Frog Jar
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Piriform bodied and painted with a figurative frog design; two loop handles to the equator. 2.7 kg, 32 cm
From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Nanking Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Dish Collection
Early 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Comprising four shallow plates, three with a house on a cliff edge next to a lake, one painted with trees on a rocky outcrop. 241 grams total, 12 cm
Ex Christie's, Amsterdam, 28 April-2 May 1985. Accompanied by an illustrated information sheet about the Nanking shipwreck.
On Monday 3rd January 1752, the Dutch East India Company ship Geldermalsen, struck a reef on her return journey to the Netherlands and sank in the South China Sea. The cargo of Chinese porcelain was originally potted in Jingdezhen, Jiangzi province. The cargo was recovered by Captain Michael Hatcher and his team in 1985. -
Chinese Tang Terracotta Polo Player
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,600
The white horse in a dynamic pose with its legs and head extended, painted detailing to the harness and saddle blanket; female rider in a tight-fitting red robe with long sleeves, left arm raised and the right arm held behind her back; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 6 kg total, 47.5 cm long
From a West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.09C26042024 from Laboratory Kotalla. -
Ca Mau Cargo Shipwreck Glazed Blue and White Tea Bowl and Dish Set
Early 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Comprising six shallow plates with flowers and butterflies, and six cups with floral motifs. 724 grams total, 74-119 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.