By Carter B. Horsley

A 3 1/4-inch high magnesite or crystalline limestone figure of a lioness that is Elam and is dated circa 3000 to 2800 B.C. is the highlight of the Fall Antiquities auction at Sotheby's December 5, 2007.

The small statuette, Lot 10, is property of a charitable trust established by the Martin family and for many years has been on exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum as part of the Guennol Collection of the family of Edith and Alastair Bradley Martin.

It has an ambitious estimate of $14,000,000 to $18,000,000.

It sold for $57,161,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The extraordinary price was not only an auction record for any antiquity, but also for any sculpture.

Richard M. Keresey of Sotheby's Antiquities department remarked that the "Guennol Lioness" is "one of the greatest works of art of all time."

Five bidders competed for the work, three on the telephone and two in the room. Auctioneer Hugh Hildesley opened the bidding at $8,500,000 and when bidding reached $27,000,000 a new bidder standing the back of the salesroom raised his paddle. The successful bidder was an anonymous English buyer.

The sale total of $64,955,839 was far above the pre-sale high estimtae of $22,200,000 and 97 percent of the offered lot were sold.

The catalogue provided the following description of the lot:

"of powerful form and monumental conception, striding with the left leg advanced, the broad-shouldered upper body turned fully to the right with the paws clasped to the abdomen, the head with finely incised detail, and wide-set eyes with circular pupils, four holes on the back for insertion of a tail, two holes on the crown of the head perhaps for suspension, the lower legs possibly once completed in a different material."

The lot was said to have been found at a site near Baghdad and the Martins acquired it from Joseph Brummer of New York in 1948. The Guennol Collection was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1969 and this piece was including in its 2003 exhibition, "Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus."

The catalogue entry for the lot notes that "In its uniqueness and sheer aesthetic appeal the Lioness is acknowledged to transcend stylistically related examples of sculpture from the same area and time period. Despite its relatively small size it conveys an unmistakable impression of monumentality, an effect which the sculptor was able to achieve by combining bold modeling, powerful proportions, and a physically impossible posture generating multiple viewpoints."

The previous record for an antiquity was "Artemis and the Stag," a late Hellenisitic/early Roman Imperial bronze sculpture sgrup from the 1st Century B.C./1st Century A.D., that was 36 1/4 inches high and was sold for $28,600,000 June 6, 2007 at Sotheby's. The previous auction record for a work of antiquity of $11,652,175 for The Jenkins Venus set in June, 2002.

The previous record for a sculpture at auction was $29,161,000 paid for "Tete de Femme (Dora Maar)" by Pablo Picasso at Sotheby's November 7, 2007.

Lot 32 is a 23 3/8-inch high alabaster figure of a woman from Qataban in Southern Arabia that is dated circa 3rd/1st Century B.C. It was once in the collection of Andre Emmerich of New York. The catalogue notes that the statuette "is most likely to come from Timna`, the main necropolis of the Kingdom of Qatabân, on the western and southwestern slopes of Hayd Ibn `Aqîl in Yemen" and that "in the 1920s it was a prominent part of the Guido Cetti Collection, which, although little known, ranks as one of the most important early 20th Century private collections of South Arabian sculpture in the round, second only to that of K. Muncherjee (dispersed at Sotheby's in London in 1931). Guido Cetti owned a large mussel fishing operation based in the Italian colony of Massawa, on the Eritrean coast of the Red Sea....According to a 1965 letter by Abram Lerner, then curator of the Hirshorn Collection in New York, a Bruno Cetti 'and his brother' (presumably Guido) made frequent trips to South Arabia to buy spices; on one trip Bruno brought the entire collection home to Massawa, most of the way on mule back." The work subsequently was in the collection of Andre Emmerich.

It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $1,217,000.

Lot 50 is a handsome, monumental marble head of Zeus, Early Roman Imperial, circa early 1st Century A.D. It is 17 1/2 inches high and has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $965,000.

The catalogue notes that "this majestic head was discovered 'a few years before' 1881 in the basement of an almshouse, the Bureau de Bienfaisance (or Maison de la Charité), on the rue Flourens in Béziers." "In the first publication of the head local antiquarian Louis Noguier writes, 'The style is excellent, and ancient statuary has left nothing better in the region. The modeling is thick and powerful, and the beard as well as the long hair on the left side are very skillfully detailed. The brow, which is quite prominent, and the highly pronounced lips combine to give his physiognomy such an expression of grandeur and nobility that one can only see in him the father or master of heaven.' The recorded location of the find lies very close to the forum of the ancient Roman city, Colonia Urbs Julia Septimanorum Baeterrae, which underlies the modern town of Béziers. A famous group of Julio-Claudian portraits, originally displayed in a basilica or temple on the forum, was found in 1844 a few yards away from where the head of Zeus came to light...."

Lot 69 is an impressive marble figure of a women, Roman Imperial, circa 1st Century A.D. It is 78 inches high. It has a modest estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. It sold for $481,000.

Lot 75 is an impressive Cyrpriot bichrome-ware terracotta horse and rider, circa 7th Century B.C. It is 9 5/8 inches high and has a modest estimate of $7,000 to $10,000. It sold for $58,000.

Lot 77 is a marble bust of the Erosof Centocelle, Roman Imperial, Hadrianic, or Antonine, circa A.D. 120-180. It is 18 1/2 inches high. It is after a Greek sculpture of the 4th Century B.C., perhaps by Praxiteles. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $349,000.

Lot 79 is an impressive marble portrait head of the Emperor Claudius, Roman Imperial, A.D. 41-54. It is 16 inches high and has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $629,000.

Lot 95 is a delightful Roman bronze balsamarium in the form of a bear. Dated circa 4th Century A.D., it is 4 7/8 inches long and has an estimate of $5,000 to $8,000. It sold for $10,625.

Lot 101 is a nice Persian bronze horse and rider, Southwest Caspian area, early 1st Millennium B.C. It is 3 1/2 inches long and has an estimate of $3,000 to $5,000. It sold for $6,875.

Lot 29 is a very fine pale blue green faience ushabti of Neferibresaneith, 26th Dynasty, reign of Amasis, 570-526 B.C. It is 7 1/2 inches high and has a modest estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $91,000.

The catalogue notes that the "Tomb of Neferibresaneith was found in 1929 at Saqqara, south of the funerary complex of King Userkaf. In all, 366 ushabtis were found, most of them resting on the lid of the stone sarcophagus under the carbonized wood box....According to Aubert..., "a large number of these figurines were dispersed by the Service des Antiquités and found their way to public... and private collections....The ushabtis of Neferibresaneith are among the most beautiful ones of the Late Period, comparable in quality to those of Psamtik-Meryptah."

Lot 26 is a brilliant blue faience ushabti of Pinudjem I, 21st Dynasty, 1075-944 B.C. It is 4 1/4 inches high and has a modest estimate of $5,000 to $8,000. It was once in the collection of Paulette Goddard Remarque. It sold for $17,500.

Lot 10 is an Egyptian bronze figure of a divinity, 21st/26th Dynastry, 1075-525 B.C. It is 4 15/16 inches high and has an estimate of $7,000 to $10,000. It was once in the collection of Natacha Rambova. It sold for $39,400.