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 Cypriot Terracotta Amphora
Iron Age, Cypro-Geometric, circa 950-850 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
With narrow base, oblate profile, two lateral loop handles to the shoulder, broad neck and flared rim to the mouth; painted bands of circumferential geometric ornament, linear with hatched lozenge motifs, radiating bars to the mouth. 3.05 kg, 40.5 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. -
Cypriot Round-Bottomed Spouted Terracotta Jug
Middle Bronze Age, circa 2000-1800 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £592
Of globular profile with strap handle and tall scooped spout; applied lugs to the shoulder, incised zigzag ornament; spout with pierced lug to the underside and band of impressed pellets. 935 grams, 32 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. -
Archaic Cypriot Head of a Male Votary
6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Fragmentary head from a votive limestone figure of a male with long hair arranged inside a plain diadem above his forehead; the face with almond-shaped eyes sculpted in relief, arched eyebrows, and exhibiting the ‘archaic smile’; mounted on a display block. 381 grams total, 15 cm high including stand
Ex Professor Hans Dahn (1919-2019), Lausanne, Switzerland. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
4th-3rd century B.C.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. 290 grams total, 14.5 cm high (19.5 cm high including stand)
Fine condition, excellent uniform patina.
with Sotheby's, New York, 21 November 1985, no.60. Ex private New York collection. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11794-206497.
The statuette assumes the position of the 'attacking Hercules', which characterises numerous Etruscan statues of the hero of the classical era, however, with a less aggressive stance. The type was probably an Etruscan creation of the 5th century B.C., based on Greek models, which lasted until the end of the Hellenistic period, when Etruria was by then incorporated into the Roman world. This statuette, despite certain anatomical stylisation and an impersonal characterisation of the face, is the result of a good artistic and technical quality. The comparison of the artwork with the group identified as ‘Trieste’ from Colonna shows that this specimen is more recent and should be dated to the end of the Hellenistic Age. These small statuettes were probably offered ex-voto by the Romano-Etruscan aristocracy of the period. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of a Priest Offering
4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,430
Modelled standing barefoot on an irregular base, wearing an ankle-length chlamys over a short-sleeved tunic; the left arm supporting a bunch of grapes, the right hand with a patera; the hair and beard neatly dressed; mounted on a custom-made stand. 279 grams total, 14 cm including stand
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. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12317-214667.
Lares were supernatural guardians revered in ancient Roman, the cult probably adapted from an Etruscan predecessor; the word lar derives from Etruscan larth - a leader or overlord. They were believed to guard the family's wealth and look after their health and wellbeing. An offering-plate is usually modelled in one of the figure's hands, onto which small libations could be made. They were usually worshipped in groups, but offerings to individuals are also known. -
Graeco-Roman Bronze Statuette of a Draped Female
1st century B.C.-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Modelled in the round with the right hand raised palm-outward and left hand clasped, the pallium gathered round the body and draped over the head; on a base. 699 grams, 14 cm
Acquired in Egypt by Lieutenant James Alexander Goodman in the 1920s. Thence by descent to his grandson.
Lieutenant Goodman served in the 4th Battalion Welsh Regiment during World War I and saw action in Palestine during the capture of Bethlehem, (for which he won an MC). After the war, he setup a business selling Fordson trucks and tractors in Alexandria, Egypt. A keen antiquarian, he collected ancient objects during his time in Alexandria and when he visited the pyramids at Giza. After his first marriage failed, he returned to the UK in the early 1930s. On his death in 1959, he passed his small collection of Egyptian objects on to his second wife, Ruby Goodman. On Ruby’s death in 1994, they were left to their second daughter, Rosemary Johnson, (née Goodman), and are currently in the possession of her son. -
Greek Core-Formed Glass Aryballos
6th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,404
Of squat piriform profile with applied ring to the foot and rim, applied strap handles o the shoulder; the equator with horizontal hoops and dragged marvered trail decoration. 50.1 grams, 71 mm
Private collection, England. -
Greek Terracotta Figure of Ganymede
3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
Modelled in the round as a nude male figure with hanks of hair to the shoulders and necklace of beads; joined directly to his back, an eagle with its textured head arched over that of Ganymede; separate lower left leg and upper arm to the human figure, separate wings for the eagle; repaired. 1.74 kg, 44.5 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12211-222353.
In Greek mythology, Ganymede was a divine hero whose handsome looks attracted the attention of Zeus, who had him transported to Olympus by a huge eagle, where he was to serve as a cup-bearer to the gods. -
Greek South Italian Red-Figure Pelike with Presentation Scene
5th-4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Comprising a pedestal base, mastoid body, lateral strap handles and funicular neck, broad mouth with stepped rim; the neck and rim decorated with a band of egg-and-dart; both faces of the body decorated with a figural scene with a standing male on the left with close-fitting cap, long cloak or mantle reaching from shoulder to knee and clasped at his right shoulder with a disc brooch, holding in his left hand a key-shaped object; to his right, a chest-high structure with palmette at the top, waisted shaft and arcaded base; to the right, a female standing facing the male, wearing a crested helmet or headdress, peplos dress gathered at her waist and extending to the floor, holding in her right hand a diadem or wreath towards the male; palmettes below the handles, the base with red and black banding; the strap handles undecorated; likely Campanian workmanship. 969 grams, 25.2 cm
Acquired in Münich in 2012. European private collection Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12190-222344.
During the late 5th century B.C., Attic imports ceased as the Spartans blockaded trade routes during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.). In response, five areas in southern Italy, Campania, Paestum, Apulia, Lucania, and Sicily began to produce red-figure vases. The decoration offered a remarkable range of subjects associated not only with mythological images, but with representations the local life, costumes and customs. The simple, single figure compositions decorating each side of this vase were also characteristic of the style, which tended to avoid complex mythological scenes often found on much larger vessels like volute craters, favouring representation of the daily life of south Italic Hellenised peoples. -
Greek Terracotta Gorgon Applique
5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Plano-convex in section with band of tight spirals forming the hair, lentoid eyes, snub nose and gaping mouth revealing fangs and protruding tongue. 28 grams, 54 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. -
South Italian Red-Figure Krateriskos
4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
With globular body and carinated flat shoulder, flared mouth and low foot with collar, lateral ledge handles; painted with radiating lines to the shoulder and profile 'ladies of fashion' busts with white detailing; old collector's label '19' to underside. 89 grams, 79 mm wide
Swiss private collection, 19th century. Acquired in the mid 1980s-late 1990s. From a European family collection, thence by descent. -
Hellenistic Terracotta Theatre Mask
2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £325
Modelled as a grotesque male head with gaping crescent-shaped mouth, pointed nose, furrowed brow and thick mop of hair around the head; pierced at the upper face. 45 grams, 60 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.