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 Terracotta Lion Statuette
Late 2nd-early 3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,550
Modelled naturalistically in the round in an advancing pose with face, muzzle and tooth detailing within the open mouth, the tufts of the animal's mature mane individually rendered; filling hole on the back; the mouth open acting as a spout; North African workmanship; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 1.5 kg total, 20.5 cm high including stand
with Sotheby’s London, 9 December 1994, no.221. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. Accompanied by copies of relevant Sotheby's catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11797-206532.
The lion was famously featured in many ancient myths, perhaps the most famous being that of Hercules (Herakles) slaying the Nemean lion for his first labour, but it was also linked with the cult of the goddess Cybele, where it is usually represented sculptured in relief on either side of her throne. -
Roman Marble Head of a Lady
2nd century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £234
Carved in the round with detailed hairstyle comprising a braid and coil to the rear of the head; the facial features soft and rounded, mouth in a half-smile; mounted on a display-stand. 520 grams total, 11.5 cm including stand
4 1/2 in.
Acquired before 2000. From an English private collection. -
Roman Pale Blue Glass Vessel
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Wide bell-shaped body with flat base, tall tapering neck, splayed rim with folded lip; pale blue glass; traces of an old collector's label. 205 grams, 14 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1980-1990s. -
Roman Bronze Hound Statuette
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Modelled in the round in advancing pose with head lowered and mouth open, low-relief collar to the neck; mounted on a custom-made stand. 80 grams total, 52 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 Bronze Ram's Head Terminal
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Hollow-formed with ribbed mouth to the socket. ram-head finial with swept horns, pierced to accept an attachment stud. 43.1 grams, 44 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Statue of Mars Gradivus
2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,940
Modelled in the round as a young beardless warrior hero with muscular body and rounded shoulders; wearing a high-crested pseudo-Attic helmet with a diadem; the hair arranged in orderly locks over his brow; the bent left hand would originally have held a shield and the extended right hand a spear. 278 grams, 13.5 cm high
Ex collection of Dr Djafari (1900-1981), Kaiserslautern, Germany. 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.11812-206498.
This statue of Mars Gradivus, the marching god of war, was probably a cult offering. The statuette still presents an archaic Etruscan hairstyle, being part of the Italic statuettes of the god produced as votive offering to the temples or for private lararia. A Gallo-Roman period temple dedicated to the cult of Mars with a similar statuette has recently been found in Brittany. -
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Bust of Sol
Circa mid 1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Mould made, filling-hole to the centre, slim ogival nozzle with simplified shoulder-volutes, discus iconography a bust of Sol with seven rays radiating from his head, base with one circular groove and impressed Greek letter H (capital eta). 54 grams, 84 mm
From a 1990s German collection. Ex London, UK, gallery.
The lamp belongs to the Loeschke type V (Bailey type C), group without handle. The main difference of this group from the Loeschke type IV is the shape of the volutes decorating the nozzle. They are called ‘shoulder-volutes’ because they end the lamp’s shoulder that they prolong. The decorative motif is Sol with radiate nimbus, already visible on these lamps and other Roman artworks in mid 1st century A.D. -
Roman Gilt Bronze Phalera with Theseus and the Minotaur
2nd century B.C.- 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Domed roundel with high-relief design of combat between a bearded hero and a monster, wreath and rosettes to the rim. 32 grams, 49 mm
Found near Sedgeford, Norfolk, UK, in the 1980s. Acquired in the late 1990s. Property of a Norfolk, UK, collector.
According to the legend, Theseus, prince of Athens, went to the island of Crete to kill a monster who was the son of queen Pasiphae and a wild bull, although officially he was the son of Minos and Pasiphae. Theseus chased him into the labyrinth, killed him and found his way out with the help of the comb of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. The myth has its representation in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic period, and was widely depicted in the Graeco-Roman world. The present repoussé appliqué was probably used as a furniture or horse harness ornament. -
Roman Bronze Artefact Collection
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Including a miniature T-shaped brooch, nail-cleaner, enamelled military belt mount and other items; many of these objects are published in the Detector Finds book series. 95 grams total, 20-77 mm
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968. -
Roman Amber Coloured Glass Bead Necklace Group
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £46
Comprising three necklaces restrung from beads of drilled ancient glass bangle fragments. 29 grams total, 64-71 cm
UK gallery, early 2000s. -
Roman Bronze Ring with Dolphin
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
With broad shoulders and ellipsoid bezel, intaglio dolphin and 'XA' enigmatic inscription. 4.35 grams, 23.65 mm overall, 18.90 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L 1/2, USA 6, Europe 11.87, Japan 11)
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Gold Pendant with Garnet
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Sheet gold disc pendant with garnet cabochon, knop and ribbed suspension loop. 0.22 grams, 8 mm
Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970-2000s.