By Carter B. Horsley

The quality of art included in the December 11, 2009 Antiquities auction at Christie's is very high across many different cultures. There are numerous spectacular works.

The finest work being offered is Lot 27, an Egyptian Lion-Headed Wadjet bronze from the Late Period to Ptolemaic Period, circa 4th-3rd Century B.C. It is 15 1/2 inches high and very detailed, and beautifully sculpted. It is complete except for implements that Wadjet held in the hands. It is one of many very fine works from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Newall III in the auction. Mr. Newall is general partner of New Enterprise Associates. The catalogue entry notes that Wadjet "is almost always shown as a cobra but she was often combined with the lion-headed Sekhmet, the goddess of war and pestilience." It has a very modest estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $212,500.

The sale total was $8,280,525.

Lot 18 is an Egyptian bronze statue of Sekhmet that is dated to the Late Period, Dynasty XXVI, 664-525 B.C. It is 8 1/4 inches high and is property of the Newhalls. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $30,000.

Lot 16 is an Egyptian bronze bust of Osiris that is dated to the Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty XXI-XXII, 1070-712 B.C. It is 7 1/8 inches high. The crook and fail that Osiris holds are now missing inlaid pieces and the eyes, brows and chin straps are also missing inlaid pieces and the work is also missing a separately made crown. The lot has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 15 is a fine Egyptian bronze of Amun that is dated Late New Kingdom to Early Third Intermediate Period, circa 1200-800 B.C. It is 6 3/8 inches high. The piece is missing plumes that had been inserted into the figure's distinctive crown. The lot has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. It sold for $266,500.

The oldest antiquity in this auction is Lot 40, a Mesopotamian idol, monolithic period, circa 5500 B.C. The alabaster sculpture is 5 1/4 inches high and its eyes preserve bituminous material once adhering now missing inlays. The lot has a very conservative estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $6,250.

Lot 44 consists of 10 Anatolian idols from circa the sixth to the third millennium B.C. The largest is 1 5/8 inches high. Despite their small size, the individual works have considerable personality. The lot has a very conservative estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $8,750.

Lot 42 is a very small and quite corroded Anatolian marble female idol of the Kiliya type from the Chalcolithic Period, circa 3300-2500 B.C. It is 2 1/2 inches high.

Despite its very diminiutive size, the body is relatively intact, missing only the small portion representing the feet. The left arm and left side of the stomach and the front of the face are heavily corroded but its very distinctive and beautiful form survives.

On June 8, 2005, Christie's sold a much larger and nearly "perfect" example of such an idol for $1,808,000 including the buyer's premium, doubling the world auction record. (See The City Review article.) It was 7 7/8 inches high and was known as the "Shuster Stargazer." A work of supreme beauty worthy of the world's greatest museums, it was in remarkable condition and is one of the finest works of antiquity to come up for auction in many years. Highly stylized and abstract, it has a massive head tilted backward acutely. It was once in the collections of Marion Schuster of Lausanne, Switzerland, Mathilde de Goldschmidt-Rothschild and Robin Symes. According to the catalogue, only "about 15 complete or nearly complete 'stargazer' idols survive, while numerous fragmentary pieces are known....Most of the complete examples have been broken across the neck, as here, suggesting that the sculptures were ritually 'killed' at the time of burial. They range in size from about 2 1/2 inches to 9 inches....It is unclear what the relationship if, if any, between these Anatolian idols and their better-known and roughly-contemporary cousins from the Cycladic Islands further west." These figures come from Anatolia in western Turkey.

Lot 42 has a very, very conservative estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. It sold for $13,750.

Lot 79 is an excellent marble female figure, Kapsala variety, that is dated Early Cycladic II, circa 2700-2600 B.C. It is 8 1/8 inches long. It has a modest estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $112,500.

Lot 55 is a South Arabian alabaster ibex that is dated circa 1st Century A.D. It is 13 1/8 inches . It has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $28,750.

Lot 53 is an excellent alabaster altar that is 14 1/2 inches high containing a standing bronze figure. The altar is surmounted by eight ibex heads. The South Arabian work is dated circa 5th - 3rd Century B.C. It has a modest estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It sold for $15,000.

One of the more striking works in the auction is Lot 102, a Greek bronze winged helmet of the Phyrgian-Chalcidian type. It is dated to the Late Classical Period, circa 4th Century B.C. It is 16 1/4 inches high.. The crown has a separately made spiked crest, the separately-made wings finely incised and riveted to the sides above the cheek-pieces one of which has a standing winged Nike and the other Artemis. The lot is property of the Newhalls and has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $266,500.

Another highlight of the auction is Lot 125, a Greek bronze figure of an African that is very majestic and noble in pose and beautiful in execution. It dates to the Hellenistic Period, circa late 2nd-early 1st Century B.C., and is 10 1/4 inches high. This extremely graceful work sold to the Newhalls at Christie's June 5, 2005 auction for $96,000 when it had an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. At this auction it has the same estimate. It sold for $182,500.

Lot 171 is a fine Roman marble statue of Harpocrates, circa 2nd Century A.D. It is 10 inches high and has a modest estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $110,500.

Lot 166 is a charming and very fine Roman bronze attachment of a satyr. It is dated circa 2nd Century A.D., and is 6 inches high. It is property of the Newhalls. It has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $11,875.

Lot 104 is an impressive Greek bronze attachment that depicts Nike. Dated to the Late Classical Period, circa 4th Century B.C., it is 5 3/8 inches high and property of the Newhalls. It has a modest estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $22,500.

Lot 178 is a very fine gilt bronze bust of Hercules. It is Roman, circa 2nd Century A.D., and 5 3/8 inches high. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $25,000.

Lot 143 is a very fine Roman bronze Silenus mask applique circa 1st Century A.D. It is 4 inches high and has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $10,635.

Lot 135 is a very striking and very dramatic Roman bronze applique in the form of a theater mask of a maenad. It is beautifully modeled and is 4 3/8 inches high. It is dated circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century B.C. It is property of the Newhalls. It has an modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $30,000.

Lot 141 is a very fine Roman marble torso of Apollo that is dated circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D. It is 6 inches high and has a very modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $22,500.

Lot 144 is a very fine Roman small bronze of Hercules circa 1st Century A.D. It is 6 1/4 inches high and has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $12,500.

Lot 160 is a lovely Roman bronze Aphrodite, circa 1st-2nd Century A.D. The statue is missing its hands and is 7 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $25,000.

Lot 138 is a fine Roman marble torso with beautiful head of Venus. It is dated circa 1st century B.C., and is 13 inches high. There is a small drill hole on the side of her left buttock. It has a modest estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $176,500.

Lot 168 is a fine Roman marble torso of Venus. It is dated circa 2nd Century A.D. It is property of the Newhalls. It is 33 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $302,500.

Another marble of the torso and thighs of Venus is Lot 133, a Roman work from circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D. It is 25 inches high and has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $176,500.

Lot 121 is a very fine Greek marble head of Aphrodite, Hellenistic Period, circa 1st Century B.C. It is 8 1/2 inches high and is property of the Newhalls. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 165 is a forceful portrait marble head of the Emperor Hadrian that is 11 inches high. The Roman work comes from circa 117-138 A.D., and is in fine condition except for a battered nose. It has an somewhat ambitious estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $578,500.

Lot 148 is a handsome Roman marble portrait bust of a Julio-Claudian prince, circa first half of the 1st Century A.D. It is 13 3/8 inches high. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $722,500.

Lot 154 is a marvelous and very fine, large Roman bronze left hand, circa 2nd-3rd Century A.D. It is 12 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $40,000.