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 Oil Lamp with Erotic Scene
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,040
With broad discus and short nozzle, low-relief scene with two lovers on a bed. 66 grams, 85 mm
From a London collection of erotica, formerly in the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK. -
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Erotic Scene
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
With ribbed shoulder and short nozzle flanked by volute scrolls, low-relief scene with two lovers on a lectus couch. 68 grams, 98 mm
From a London collection of erotica, formerly in the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK. -
Roman Inked Wooden Legal Document
Late 4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,680
With a recessed panel on one side and scored frame with securing holes close to both long sides; eleven lines of inked text in Roman cursive containing the record of a legal document in a formulaic legal language; two lines of cursive text to reverse; supplied with six monochrome photographs of the tablet displaying the text to advantage. 11 grams, 15 x 8.1 cm
From an important London collection since 1975. Accompanied by a collection of six 1970s photographs of the the tablet. -
Roman Inked Wooden Legal Document
Late 4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
With a recessed panel on one side and scored frame with securing hole to one long side; seven lines of inked text in Roman cursive containing the record of a legal document in a formulaic legal language; two part-lines of cursive text to reverse; supplied with two monochrome photographs of the tablet displaying the text to advantage. 19.91 grams, 12.5 x 7.5 cm
From an important London collection since 1975. Accompanied by a collection of two 1970s photographs of the the tablet. -
Roman Bronze Statuette of Minerva
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,105
Modelled in seated pose, wearing a stylised Corinthian helmet, breastplate with gorgoneion motif, draped stola; right hand extended to support a patera, left hand raised holding the shaft of a spear (absent); hollow to the reverse underside; repaired; mounted on a custom-made stand. 717 grams total, 91 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 Statuette of Isis Fortuna
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Modelled standing erect wearing a floor-length peplos-style robe and palla draped above, gathered and secured at the waist; diadem to the hair dressed in a chignon and with a trumpet-shaped modius above, the left arm supporting a cornucopia; mounted on a custom-made stand. 287 grams total, 15.4 cm high 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 Marble Draped Female Torso
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £12,350
Carved in high-relief, a high-status female wearing a palla with a loosely draped stola draped from the left shoulder and arm and drawn across the hips; the left forearm resting on the head of a figure of Venus on a socle base, socket to accept separately carved left hand (absent); mounting sockets to neck and right hip; plain to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made stand. 23 kg total, 55.5 cm including stand
Private collection, England. 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.12228-215645. -
Roman Draped Marble Bust
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,980
Fragment of a carved statue depicting a lifesize figure wearing a pleated and draped stola with left hand clenched in a fist and held at the chest; high-relief modelling of fabric; mounted on a custom-made stand. 23.5 kg total, 49.5 cm including stand
Ex Alison Barker (1951-2021) collection, Chichester, West Sussex, UK. Private collection, England. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12229-215654. -
Roman Marble Torso
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,600
Carved in the round, nude male torso resting against a tree (or jamb of an arch), with skilfully delineated musculature, in contrapposto pose; abraded. 3.27 kg, 23 cm.
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12230-222368 -
Roman Marble Portrait of a Boy as Worshipper of Isis
Early 3rd century A.D.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. 19.6 kg total, 51.5 cm including stand
North German private collection, 1970s, and thence by descent. Antiquities, Bonhams, London, 5 October 2011, no.136. 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.12185-222445.
The child is depicted as a worshipper of Isis with the right side of the head signalling that the boy was a devotee of the goddess’s cult. The head of the boy is probably a funerary portrait, and it is clearly in the first half of 3rd century style. Its resemblance to the portrait of Gordian III on the so-called sarcophagus of Acilia is impressive, so much so that this was probably the reason for which the head was incorporated within a military bust in the 16th century. -
Larger Than Life-Size Roman Bronze Sandaled Foot
2nd-3rd century A.D.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. 5.84 kg total, foot: 30 cm wide
German art market. European private collection, 1970s-early 2000s. Acquired from the above; thence by descent. Private collection, London, UK. 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.12176-221443.
The detailed bronze foot with a possible variant of the Greek trochades sandal, known to be a traveller's sandal, is all that remains of the once monumental statue. The trochades was a sturdy traveller's open boot of Greek origin with a flat sole. In the Consular Age it was also used by officers and guardsmen. Roman sandals consisted usually of a leather sole attached to the foot with interlacing thongs. -
Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Modelled in the round as a figure of an eagle perching with its head turned to the right; on its back, the god Mercury with caduceus on his left arm and petasos on his head; mounted on a custom-made stand. 63.3 grams total, 68 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.
The figure of the messenger-god Mercury seated on the pinion of the eagle possibly relates to a mythic incident. Similar imagery was used in respect of Jupiter in scenes where the god was supposed to welcome a newly-deified emperor into the pantheon: see Metropolitan Museum of Art accession no. 32.142.2, for a sardonyx instance of this motif.