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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Roman Bronze Young Hercules Statuette
Circa 3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Modelled in the round with kilt and lionskin mantle, standing with club resting on his shoulder, left hand concealed behind the body; mounted on a custom-made stand. 87 grams total, 55 mm 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. -
Roman Amber and Black Glass Bead Necklace Group
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £221
Comprising three necklaces restrung from beads of drilled ancient glass bangle fragments. 37 grams total, 67-71 cm
UK gallery, early 2000s. -
Roman Green Glass Bead Necklace String
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £59
Restrung group of mainly annular and seed beads with tabular dangle centrepiece. 13.75 grams, 32.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Bronze Venus Anadyomene Statuette
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Modelled nude with left hand resting on her hip and right hand above her head, detailed hair cascading down her back, pellet breasts and dimpled navel; mounted on a custom-made stand. 37.6 grams total, 72 mm
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.
Venus Anadyomene (Greek: Ἀναδυόμενη "Rising from the Sea") is an iconic and much-repeated image of Venus (Aphrodite) which was popular in the ancient world and was revived in the Italian Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods. The goddess is shown emerging from the water and wringing out her long hair. -
Roman Marble Janiform Herm Head of Ariadne and a Maenad
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,050
Carved architectural element depicting a double herm comprising: a diademed female bust with long wavy hair framing the face, slender features with small mouth and raised lids; the other side with a diademed female with hair arranged in neat curls on the forehead, large eyes and small mouth, taenia shown on each side of the neck; base reworked with drilled sockets for mounting. 12.6 kg, 29 cm high
Old collection, acquired in the 1970s. Acquired by inheritance from Mr N.S. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Marina Mattei and Dr Laura Maria Vigna. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12084-211893.
The head with elaborately curled hair and diadem could represent Ariadne, as shown by comparisons with a fragment of a two-faced herm with bearded Dionysus and Ariadne preserved in the Antiquarium Ostiense, dated to the lmperial Roman age. The heads could be interpreted either as Ariadne and a Maenad, or as two Maenads being characterised by the diadem and long taeniae. The association of these figures with Dionysus is congruent with the typology of the herm, which refers to rural places and theatres. Numerous herms in fact attest that this type of sculpture was used in contexts linked to Dionysus and his sacred procession as well as, obviously, the representation of Ariadne, his female partner and double. The example fits into the class of domestic sculpture with a decorative function, mostly used to adorn peristyles and viridaria; the type placed at the crown of columns and pillars is quite documented, in particular in the version with the head of Dionysus contrasted with that of Ariadne or a Maenad. -
Late Roman Glass Pendant with Frog and 'Life' Inscription
Mid 5th-early 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Fragment with high-relief frog modelled in the half-round and surrounding legend 'ZOH' (life). 1.76 grams, 17 mm
Collected from 1970-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK. -
Roman Bronze Ring with Gammadion
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
With a wide flat-section hoop expanding to an oval bezel, intaglio motif of a gammadion. 3.26 grams, 22.00 mm overall, 19.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O 1/2, USA 7 1/4, Europe 15.61, Japan 15)
Private collection formed since the 1940s. UK art market. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Fresco Wall Plaster Collection
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Fragments of wall plaster with rendered surface with incised detailing to the edge; impression of timber laths to the reverse. 662 grams total, 6.5-10.6 cm
Acquired in the 19th century. Ex Jeger collection, Switzerland.
These small fragments, for analogies with the fragments of Pompeii, seems to belong to the second style of Roman painting, red panels representing highlight and shadow, decorated with vegetal interlaces. Some panels were probably framed by a red grenade fillet. A fragment shows alternate blue and red colour over a cream background, maybe pertinent to a socle. -
Roman Mason's Acorn-Shaped Plumb Bob Weight
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Substantial lead-filled bronze with loop above and ribbed cup. 325 grams, 62 mm
From the private collection of the late Victor Brox. -
Roman Votive Terracotta Hand Group
Circa 1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Each moulded with finger detailing to one face; or from children's dolls. 23 grams total, 34-53 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Ring with DEO
2nd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
With ellipsoid bezel inscribed '+DEO+' (for God) in seriffed capitals. 3.74 grams, 21.62 mm overall, 19.21 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Key Collection
2nd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Including 'key-ring', waisted bow and other types. 68 grams total, 22-53 mm
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.