By Carter B. Horsley

While this Antiquities auction at Sotheby's June 7, 2005 has no "blockbusters," it does offer some very fine objects, highlighted by several small Egyptian statues, a marvelous Roman marble sarcophagus fragment, a few excellent Roman small bronze statues, and a fine Greek kylix.

For connoisseurs perhaps the most desirable work is Lot 87, an Egyptian steatite figure of Sobek, the crocodile-headed god who rarely appears on the auction market. It has a modest estimate of $5,000 to $8,000. It sold for $7,200 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The fearsome object was once in the colletion of Jay C. Leff of Uniontown,Pa., and was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute in 1959-1960.

Lot 86 is a fine Egyptian bronze figure of Imhotep. It has a a conservative estiimate of $5,000 to $8,000. It sold for $16,800. The object comes from the estate of Winifred Karpf of New York.

Lot 85 is a very fine Egyptian bronze figure of the goddess Neith, 26th Dynasty, probably reign of Psamtik I, 664-610 B.C. The senuous figure is 8 1/2 inches high and has an estimate of $50,000 to $80,000. It sold for $54,000. It once was in the collection of Henry Osborne Havemeyer and according to the catalogue was "most likely acroquired from Kikran Khan Kelekian.

Lot 73 is an impressive Egyptian wood figure of a jackal. It is 20 inches long and is dated to the Third Intermediate Period, 1075-716 B.C., or earlier. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $66,000.

Lot 146 is an impressive pair of large wood and bronze ibises that the catalogue maintains are "probably 20th Century." The works were acquired separately at auctions at Sotheby's in London in the mid-1980s. The lot has an estimate of $6,000 to $9,000. It sold for $96,000 to someone who apparently felt the handsome birds were somewhat older than the 20th Century!

Lot 91 is an nice polychrome and gilt wood mummy mask of a woman that is dated to the Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 B.C. It is 28 inches high and has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $24,000.

Easily the most dramatic work in this auction is Lot 51, a Roman marble relief fragment of a heads of a group of horses. Probably Severan, the work is dated late 2nd/eeraly 3rd Century A.D. It is 13 1/8 inches long and has an estimtae of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $66,000. The catalogue notes that "this fragment was probably part of a sarcophagus panel depicting a mythological episode which included a racing quadriga...."

Lot 36 is a finely modelled and impressive bronze statue of Hermes that is dated Roman Imperial, circa 1st Century A.D. The 7 1/2-inch-high figure has an estimate of $50,000 to $80,000. It sold for $60,000.

Another bronze of Hermes, this time seated, from about the same period is Lot 37. The 4 7/8-inch-high figure was once in the collection of Matthias Koor of Knew York and has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 18 is a large and imposing marble head of Zeus Serapis that is dated circa the 2nd Century A.D. It is 23 1/4 inches high and was once with the Merrin Gallery in New York. It has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $296,000.

Lot 45 is an impressive pair of bronze Roman lamps, circa 2nd Century A.D. One is 11 inches high and the other 11 1/2 inches. The lot has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It failed to sell.

The cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 22, an Attic red-figured kylix, attributed to the Thalia Painter, circa 500 B.C. The kylix is 13 5/8 inches in diameter. It has an estimate of $180,000 to $220,000. The catalogue notes that few vases are attributed to the Thalia Painter and "none, except for the present cup, shows such grand mythological or epic scenes; it is possible that he was influenced, in this particular instance, by the ambitious repertoire of the Pezzino Group. Stylistically, however, the Thalia Painter appears to be under the sway of the late Archaic Pioneer Group, includoing such painters of Euphronios and Euthymides...." It failed to sell.