antiquities

Rare Book Set On Egypt Crowns Christie's Sale In Paris

It was one of the most ambitious projects the world had ever seen. After taking command of the Egyptian campaign around the turn of the 19th century, Napoleon gathered a staff of France's top scientists, artists, explorers and others to undertake a concept like no other, a complete and comprehensive survey of the country's monuments, plants, animals and more. The result was the Description de l'Egypte, a multi-volume set which began in 1803 but wasn't completed until 1830.

Christie's has announced the sale of the Michel Wittock Collection, Part IV, which will be held in Paris on May 11 which will include an exceptional copy of the Description de l'Egypte, bound by Jean-Joseph Tessier in polished and richly decorated calfskin. The 23 volumes in their original mahogany display case are expected to sell for €500,000 to €700,000. This is the first edition of the publication and is printed on woven paper with handcolored ornithological plates. The final work included more than 900 engraved plates. This copy was bound by the Parisian binder Jean-Joseph Tessier using tools specifically cut for the project. This particular copy belonged to Jean-Joseph Courvoisier (1775-1835) who was appointed the minister of justice in 1829 and received this set as a gift commemorating that occasion.

Tags: antiquities, christies, description de egypte, napoleon, rare books

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Roman Marble Bust Sells Far Above Estimate

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A marble bust portrait of the deified Antinous stunned the crowds at Sotheby's New York selling for far above the estimate. The marble portrait bust of the Deified Antinous, Roman Imperial, Reign of Hadrian, Circa A.D. 130-138 sold for $23.8 million, way above the high estimate of $3 million. The sculpture is the only known representation of Antinous to be identified by an inscription aside from his coin. Antinous was a member of the emperor Hadrian's entourage and after his death Hadrian grieved heavily, founding cities and temples in his honor and decreeing his deification. Part of the lure of this particular lot has to be the emotion it represents, the grief of the most powerful man in the world, the emperor of Rome who could do everything but bring back the dead.

The winning bidder for the bust was a European collector, who started bidding at $6.5 million and beat out three existing bidders as well as another who jumped in at $11.2 million. It took more than eleven minutes for the lot to sell and the crowd broke into applause when the hammer finally fell.

The total sale of The Collection of the Late Clarence Day brought in $ 36,769,250, four times the high estimates. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the charitable foundation established by Mr. Day. A green porphyry figure of an Egyptian Royal Sphinx, Roman Imperial, Circa 1st Century A.D, sold for $5,234,500 after a contest between five bidders, handily beating the high estimate of $1.2 million. The piece is a direct Roman emulation, or replica, of a specific ancient Egyptian sphinx of the New Kingdom that was excavated in the 1850s.

Clarence Day was a devoted philanthropist. His foundation has benefitted many groups including the Mayo Clinic Foundation, St. Mary's School, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, The Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State University, Boy Scouts, and Rhodes College. In 1989 he donated 60 pieces of Greek, Roman, Iranian, Egyptian, Etruscan and Byzantine antiquities to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Tags: antinous, antiquities, hadrian, marble bust, sothebys

Rare Roman Helmet Could Fetch $450,000

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

Treasure hunters in Britain have been having good luck with their metal detectors. Earlier this summer we wrote about coins that had been found in a field. A similar story surrounds a Roman helmet that is being put up for auction through Christie's. The very lifelike bronze helmet is estimated to bring in £200,000 - £300,000 when it is sold during the Antiquities sale on October 7 at Christie's London, South Kensington. It was found with a metal detector near the village of Crosby Garrett in Cumbria.

The Guardian reports that Tullie House in Carlisle, which has a large Roman collection, has been interested in obtaining the helmet. The helmet is not covered by treasure law which would give a British museum the automatic right to buy it. The treasure law only applies to bronze when found in hoards, because this is a single object it does not qualify. It's a windfall for the finder who is in his early 20s and has been detecting with his father for several years. When he found the helmet he had no idea of the age but reported it to the Portable Antiquities Scheme at the British Museum. The Guardian article says that if a foreign buyer wins the auction it is likely that the government may move in to bar the export of the piece and give a British museum a chance to match that bid. There are just two other helmets that have been found in Britain with complete face masks, one is in the British Museum, the other is in Edinburgh. Although this helmet was found in more than 30 pieces it has now been restored. Some archaeologists are angry that it was restored because the pieces could have offered clues as to how it came to be buried in the ground.

Tags: antiquities, bronze helmet, christies, roman helmet, treasure hunt, treasure-hunting

Roman Antiquities Sells High At Sotheby's

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Our modern culture remains fascinated by Ancient Rome. History has its price, in the case of a recent Sotheby's Antiquities auction in New York, that price was a total of $17,479,940, a huge win for Sotheby's for a sale of this type. That number, against estimates of $3.2-$4.8 million was the highest total for a sale in this category at Sotheby's since December 2007. The top lot was a marble torso of an emperor dating back to the first half of the first century A.D. which sold for $7,362,500 handily beating the high estimate of $1.2 million. The torso is believed to be of one of the Julio-Claudian emperors, likely Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius and sold to an anoymous telephone bidder.

At the sale nearly 90 percent of the pieces achieved prices at or above estimate. The Austrian family collection that consigned the marble torso also consigned Three Satyrs Fighting a Serpent, a Roman Imperial sculpture dated to the circa 1st century A.D. that was once part of Lorenzo DeMedici's collection. It sold to an anonymous
private buyer for $3,442,500 which was more than six times the high estimate of $500,000. A marble bust of the Athena Giustiniani, Roman Imperial, circa 2nd Century A.D. sold for $4,114,500 far above the pre-sale estimate of $600/900,000.

[via Art Daily]

Tags: antiquities, marble, roman antiquities, roman history, sculpture

$700,000 Austrian Emperor's Chimney Piece Heads Sotheby's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Auctions, Art

Looking for a unique item to add a regal flourish to your interior decor? An extremely rare, important and well-preserved neo-Gothic terracotta chimney piece commissioned for Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia and King of Hungary, in the late 19th century, is being offered for sale during Sotheby's' Origines, Architecture & Heritage, Decoration and Garden Statuary auction in Paris on March 31. The incredible 8.5-ft. tall piece, built to surround a kingly fireplace at one of the imperial Hapsburg family palaces and bearing the emperor's coat of arms, is expected to fetch up to $700,000. Two knights standing on Corinthian columns flank the mantelpiece, which also bears the Emperor's motto Viribus Unitis, "With united forces."

Tags: antiques, antiquities, architecture, Austria, bohemia, chimney piece, emperor, fireplace, franz Joseph I, Hapsburg, hungary, palace, royalty, Sothebys, sothebys auction paris, terracotta

Contents of Versace's Villa Fetch High Prices

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

It wasn't as huge as the Yves Saint Laurent sales but the auction of the contents of Gianni Versace's Italian villa (as comprehensively covered by my colleague Jared Paul Stern in January) adds weight to the idea that the art and antiques curated by a person of famous taste have special value. Sotheby's brought in 7.4 million pounds ($10.4 million) from the London sale of the paintings, furniture and objets d'art from Villa Fontanelle on Lake Como. The number handily beat presale estimates of around 2.5 million pounds and all except nine lots were sold.

Like the Saint Laurent sale, the Versace sale was a chance to pick up pieces personally selected by a man of great taste. The two men had different styles but shared a taste for exquisite furnishings and artwork. Top lots included a pair of Italian cherry wood bookcases by Karl Roos that were commissioned by Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, for the Library at Palazzo Borghese in Rome in 1814 and sold for 481,000 and 601,000 pounds compared to estimates of around 80,000 and 90,000 pounds.

Mario Tavella, an Italy-based Sotheby's deputy chairman told Bloomberg's Scott Reyburn that some of the bidders had known Gianni and that other wanted pieces because of the connection to the designer. The most expensive lots went to European collectors with the more inexpensive pieces being snapped by Russian clients.

One piece, "Portrait of Major George Maule" by German artist Johann Zoffany was pulled before the auction when a direct descendant of Maule contacted the Art Loss Register and was concerned that it had been stolen years before Versace bought it.

This sale was the last of four Versace sales held by Sotheby's that includes the contents of Versace's Miami and New York homes. Total proceeds exceeded 38 million pounds.

Source

Tags: antiquities, art, auction, borghese, gianni versace, GianniVersace, lake como, LakeComo, sothebys, villa fontanelle, VillaFontanelle, yes saint laurent, YesSaintLaurent