By Carter B. Horsley

This Antiquities auction at Sotheby's December 9, 2004 is highlighted by some marvelous very early works including a sensational Early Bronze Age marble figure of a goddess, a superb and abstract Syrian calcite figure of a ram, a charming Cypriot terracotta sculpture of a horse and rider, a great Egyptian harpoon pendant, and some stunning Roman portrait busts.

The marble figure of a goddess, Lot 223, is dated circa 3300 to 2500 B.C. and is 6 1/4 inches high. It is property of the Collection of Gustave and Franyo Schindler and once was in the collection of J. J. Klejman of New York. It is of the Kiliya type. The catalogue notes that it is "of highly stylized form with finely incised detail on the slender lozenge-shaped body, wing-like arms each with shallow ridge on the inside, cylindrical neck, rounded shoulders, and asymmetrical ellipsoid head with broad crested forehead, diminutive domed eyes, narrow keel-shaped nose, and delicately carved ears." The catalogue adds that a "closely related example" is included in the book" "Glories of the Past: Ancient Art from the Leon Levy and Shelby White Collection" (New York, 1990) and that that figure is "said to have been found, together with the present figure and the electrum figure (Lot 224), near Kirshir in Central Anatolia." This work was included in an exhibition of the Schindler collection at the Museum of Primitive Art in New York in 1966. What is remarkable about this figure is that the head is posed perpendicular to the body. Although the neck is discolored, this small sculpture is breathtakingly abstract and a global treasure. It has a modest estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $764,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

Also from the Schindler collection is the smaller electrum figure that is very similar. It is 1 9/16 inches high and also comes from J. J. Klejman. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. Lot 224, it sold for $57,000.

The Schindlers also had a tall and very elegant Cycladic marble figure of a goddess, Lot 230, also from the Early Bronze Age II, circa 2700-2600 B.C. It is of the Kapsala type and was also included in the exhibition at the Museum of Primitive Art in 1966 as well as in an exhibition in 1987-8 that was held at the Virigina Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. This sculpture is 9 1/2 inches high and has a modest estimate of $50,000 to $80,000. Cycladic works are not as rare as the Anatolian pieces. It sold for $142,400.

Another early and fine work is Lot 329, a Syrian calcite figure of a ram that is dated late 4th/3rd Millennium B.C. It is 12 1/2 inches long and its charm was enhanced at the auction exhibition by having the ribbon for the lot-number hung around its neck, conjuring images of Danielle Bianchi in the James Bond movie, "From Russia With Love," which is not to suggest that the actress looked like a ram but the ribbon collar, which is usually distracting, adds considerable allure and charm. This lot has a conservative estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $21,600.

Another stunning early work that also was once in the J. J. Klejman collection is Lot 238, a Cypriot terracotta figure of a horse and rider. Dated circa 7th Century B.C., it is 7 7/16 high and the catalogue notes that is has been restored. The tall mane of the horse is particularly striking and this lot has a modest estimate of $1,500 to $2,500. Much of the Cypriot art on exhibit in New York is rather clumsy and uninteresting but this is a fine and delightful piece. It sold for $1,920.

Lot 247 is an excellent Sardinian bronze figure of a warrior that is dated circa 9th/7th Century B.C. The 6 1/4-inch-high figure has his right hand raised in what the catalogue states is a "prayerful gesture," and holds a bow on his left shoulder with a quiver of his back. He is wearing sandals and has a square breastplate hand from his shoulders and is wearing a crested helmet with a large plume. The figure has great dimensionality and character and an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $27,000.

Lot 305 is an excellent lower half of the head of a king that is Egyptian, 18th Dynasty, reign of Tuthmosis III/Amenhotep II, 1479-1400 B.C. The basalt head is only 4 inches high and 7 1/2 inches deep but has a nice monumentality. It is particularly striking because its top appears to have been sliced off horizontally just above the lower eyelids. According to the catalogue entry for the lot, it is "from a sphinx, wearing the nemes-headcloth. It has a modest estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $21,600.

Lot 317 is a marvelous Egyptian Horus harpoon pendant that is dated Late Period, 716-30 B.C. The 4 1/4-inch-high pendant has a ribbed harpoon supported on theback of a crocodile and surmounted by a falcon head wearing a striated tripartite wig with uraeus and the head is crowned by a falcon wearing the sun-disk with uraeus. The finely modeled piece has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $8,400.

Lot 308 is an Egyptian steatite figure of Pe-shery-aset from the 26th Dynasty, Period of Psamtik I/Necho II, 664-595 B.C. The finely modeled statue is 9 13/16 inches high and was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art from October 18, 1960 to January 9, 1961. The mummy and coffin of Pe-shery-aset are in the Museo Civico di Archeologia Ligure in Genoa. The back of the statue has a long inscription. It has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. It sold for $176,000.

Lot 307 is an Egyptian granite block statue of a man, 19th Dynasty, Reign of Ramesses II, 1279-1213 B.C. The 12 3/8-inch-high statue depicts the man seated on rounded base with his handsemerging from his enveloping cloak and crossed over his knees and holding a lettuce in his right hand. The naos before him is carved with the ram head of the god Amun-Ra surmounted by a uraeus and sun-disk and each side of the naos engraved with a standing divine figure, Mut on the right and Khonsu on the left. The work was deaccessioned from the Cairo Museum between 1905 and 1906 and was formerly in the collections of Vladimir Gregorievitch Simkhovitch and William Randolph Hearst. It was excavated under the supervision of French archaeologist Georges Legrai on April 9, 1905 from a trench in the courtyard of the seventh pylon in the great temple at Karnak. It has soft modeling and an ambitious estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. This lot is the back-cover illustration of the catalogue. It failed to sell.

Lot 312 is a charming Egyptian alabaster flask with handles of confronted standing vervet monkeys resting their forepaws on the edge of the rim. It is dated 18th Dynasty, Period of Tuthmosis III, 1479-1426 B.C., and is 5 15/16 inches high. The catalogue notes that "vessels including monkeys in their decoration were particularly popular from Dynasty XVII through the reigh of Tuthmosis III," adding that "Vervets (grivets, or African green monkeys) were no longer indigenous by the time this vase was carved, and were imported from Nubia, and also subsequently exported to other lands. The lot has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $30,000.

Lot 313 is a group of six faience and lapis lazuli Egyptian objects, Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 B.C., and later. The nicest object is a very fine pale olive green faience amulet of striding ram-headed Khnum wearing a pleated kilt and striated tripartite wig. The lot has an estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $7,200.

This auction has a superb collection of Roman works, highlighted by Lot 280, a Roman Imperial marble portrait bust of a woman, reign of Trajan, circa 100-110 A.D. The 23-inch-high bust is exquisite and was once in the collection of Cavallieri Cesare and Ercole Canessa and was exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. The Canessa catalogues identified the sitter as Julia Iti, daughter of the Emperor Titus, but this auction catalogue notes that Hans Jucker "has since doubted this identifiction based on the fact that the facial features resemble neither Julia's coin portraits or her best known and most securely identified marble portrait head in the Terme Museum. The Canessa brothers were dealers in antiquities, coins, European works of art and Old Master paintings. This lot has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $820,000.

Lot 281 is a fine Roman Imperial marble portrait bust of Empress Faustina the Younger. The 15 3/8-inch-high bust is dated circa 161-180 A.D., and has an estimate of $125,000 to $175,000. The sitter was the daughter of Antonius Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius and the mother of their twin boys, Commodus and Fulvus Antonius. It sold for $176,000.

Lot 261 is a large marble statue of Aphrodite that has her head and is 32 1/8 inches high. A Roman Imperial figure, it is dated 2nd half of the 2nd Century A.D. It was once in the collection of Count Antoine Doré de Nion, who acquired it in Rome, circa 1840 and the consignor acquired it in 1989 from the Merrin Gallery in New York. The catalogue notes that this statue was reportedly excavated along with a bronze head in the area of the Forum of Caesar, presumably adjacent to the temple of Venus.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"It has been suggested, partly because of the reported findspot, that this figure represents the empress Faustina deified as Aphrodite, and that she originally formed part of a group with her husband Commodus depicted as Mars....When depicted in the guise of Aphrodite women of the Imperial house would not normally be allowed to appear nude...while private individuals, especially in the 2nd Century, were often memorialized in this way....Also, an under-lifesize marble figure of a deified empress would be unusual, since statues of this type are usually either lifesize or larger....The hairstyle does not match any particular type of Roman coiffure and cannot be readily dated, unlike the highly specific and elaborate hairstyle of the original Aphrodite of Knidos....In the end, this figure, with its attenuated extremities andother subtle mannerisms, such as the hairstyle and earlobes drilled for earrings, stands perfectly well on its own as a sophisticated Antonine interpretation of the Aphrodite of Knidos."

It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $596,000.

While its condition is not as fine as the busts in Lots 280 and 281, the Roman marble portrait head of a man, Lot 282, is very strong. Dated Late Republican, circa 50-25 B.C., it is over life-size and 12 inches high. It has a modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $27,000.

The cover illustration of the auction catalogue is Lot 284, a Roman Imperial bronze portrait head of Ptolemy of Mauretania, Julio-Claudian. Dated circa 5-20 A.D., it is 7 inches high. The catalogue provides the following commentary: "Grandson of Anthony and Cleopatra, Ptolemy of Mauretania was the last known descendant of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Born between 19 and 14 B.C., his mother was Cleopatra Selene and father Juba II, a native-born Mauretanian king. Ptolemy ruled jointly with his father after A.D. 21 and became sole ruler after his father's death circa A.D. 23/24. As a client king of Rome he was first criticized for failing to assist Roman generals in their repeated attempts to quell the rebellionof Tacfarinas; Tacitus says of Ptolemy that his youth first made him 'negligent'...of the affairs of the state..., but that his subsequent active military support won him Rome's gratitude." In 40 A.D., he visited Rome at the behest of Emperor Caligula who then had him executed when he noticed that he attracted a lot of attention at a gladiatorial show by the splendor of his purple cloak. The impressive lot has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $960,000.

Lot 269 is a charming Hellenistic marble statue of Aphrodite that is dated circa 2nd/1st Century B.C. The headless statue is missing its left forearm and is 16 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $42,000.

Lot 249 is a very impressive bronze figure of Zeus that is Late Hellenistic or Early Roman Imperial, circa 2nd half of the 1st Century B.C./early 1st Century A.D. The statue is 9 11/16 inches high and is missing its right forearm. It was once in the Fleischman Collection in New York and has been exhibited at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco in 1982 and at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts in Boston between 1988 and 1989. The statue is inspired by Greek sculpture and formerly held a scepter in the raised left hand and the missing right hand once held a thunderbolt. "Bronze figures of Zeus or Poseidon in the Roman Period," the catalogue noted, "are highly eclectic in style. The present figure, for instance, combines 5th Century B.C. Polycleitan features, such as the musculature and posture, with later 4th Century traits like the upswept locks of hair over the forehead."

The lot has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $164,800.