By Carter B. Horsley

The last major auction of the Spring 2006 season, this antiquities auction at Christie's June 16 is larger and stronger than the antiquities auction at Sotheby's that, unusually, was held much earlier in the month.

This auction has several notable works including an Egpyptian blue faience hippopotamus, a wonderful gilded bronze Roman statue of a warrior, a marvelous two-headed Anatolian marble idol and an interesting group of Bactrian objects.

Lot 174, shown above, is the Egyptian blue faience hippopotamus, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty XIII, 1783-1640 B.C., 4 1/2 inches long. It is similar to Willy, a similar piece, albeit in finer condition, that is the "mascot" of the Metropolitan Museum of art. This hippopotamus was once broken at the head and is missing an ear. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It was passed at $140,000, one of many major works in the auction that failed to sell.

Lot 177 is an Egyptian limestone relief fragment depicted a seated official wearing an array of adornments including a double strand of the "gold of honor." It is dated to the New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, late reign of Amenhotep III, 1361-1353. B.C. It is 17 1/8 inches high. It has a modest estimate of $15,000 to $18,000. It sold for $50,400 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

Lot 198 is a superb Egyptian bronze statue of Osiris that is dated Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-XXX, 664-343 B.C. It is 18 3/16 inches high and is finely modeled with a nice patina. It has a conservative estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It sold for $78,000.

One of the finest works in the auction is Lot 43, a two-headed Anatolian marble idol that is 4 3/4 inches high. It is dated circa late 3rd Millennium B.C. The lot has an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. It sold for $57,600.

Lot 42 is an impressive Late Vinca terracotta figure from the Neolithic Period, circa 5th Millennium B.C. It is 5 inches high and has a modest estimate of $2,000 to $3,000. It sold for $4,560.

One of the most interesting early works is Lot 20, a Bactrian stone ritual object that is 55 1/2 inches high. Dark gray in color and cylindrical in form it is tapered to flat ends. It is slightly curved and extremely impressive. It is dated circa late 3rd to early 2nd Millennium B.C., the same period as the more common, and equally beautiful, Bactrian waisted cylindrical objects topped with grooves. It has a very modest estimate of $3,000 to $4,000. It sold for $12,000.

Another work from the same period is Lot 24, a West Central Asian gold spouted bowl with a zoomorphic handle in the form of a camel protome. The work is 13 1/16 nches long and has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It is listed as Bactria-Margiana. It was passed at $110,000.

Another good work from this period is Lot 25, a Western Asiatic female votive. The copper or bronze figure is 6 3/4 inches high and has an estimate of $50,000 to $80,000. It was passed at $38,000.

Lot 33 is a 22 3/8-inch-wide Neo-Assyrian glazed brick merlon that is 22 3/8 inches wide. It is dated circa 8th-7th Century B.C., and has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It was passed at $150,000.

Lot 220 is a highly stylized and impressive Etruscan thymiaterion depicting a dancing castanet player that was once in the Christos G. Bastis Collection and sold at Sotheby's in the fall of 1999 for $222,500. On the head of the player is the stem of an incense bowl. A similar work is in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It was passed at $260,000.

Lot 284 is a Roman bronze Hekateion, circa 2nd Century A.D. Kekate was, according to the catalogue, "a chthonic goddess who was asssociated with the ghost world. as sich, she came to offer protection at the crossroads, from the known path to the unknown. Her visages were apotropaic and were placed at city gates and domestic doorways. Her aspects were synchretistic, often incorporating the roles of Diana and Luna. The triple-bodied composition of the goddess Hekate is recorded as an innovation by the Greek sculpture Alkamenese in 430 B.C. for the bastion of the Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian acropolis....In the Roman Period, the three figures came to embody the cycles of nature: here shown as three distinct stages of human life ....The present example closely resembles a Hekateion now in Trieste...on which one aspect of the goddess is shown crowned with a crescent moon." The lot has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It failed to sell.

Small bronzes that are finely modelled are prized by many collectors and those that gilt bronze even more so. Lot 262 is a very fine "Mars Ultor" Roman gilt bronze, circa late 1st-2nd Century A.D. It is 7 inches high and has an estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $78,000. The cult-statue of Mars Ultor is best known from a restored colossal marble statue from the Forum of Nerva now in the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

Many of the finest lots at Christie's December 18, 1998 Antiquities auction did not sell, including lot 129, shown above, the superbly cast Hellenistic or Roman bronze lion protome, circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D, 17 1/2 inches long. At that auction, it had an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. The catalogue for that auction noted that its origin is not clear: "The sharp left turn of the lion's head suggests that it was once paired with a symmetrical counterpart. Such a pair of heavy bronze lions may have been attached to the cat-head of a ship, which is a curved timber projecting from each bow for securing an anchor. Although it is possible that this piece could have ornamented a chariot or piece of furniture, the great size and weight advocates more strongly in favor of use on a ship." In this auction, it has a modest estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $98,000.

Lot 286 is a nice Roman marble relief of Mithras Tauroctonus that is 34 3/4 inches wide. It is dated circa late 2nd Century A.D, and has an estimte of $200,000 to $300,000. It failed to sell. It was once in the Fleischman Collection in New York. According to the catalogue, "among the corpus of surviving Mithraic tauroctonies, the present relief is extraordinary for the state of preservation, quality and scale." The scene represents the struggle between good and evil and life and death and "the players have been interpreted as constellations."

Lot 244 is a very good Roman bronze handle with a lion and lioness eating a doe. The handle is 5 3/16 inches long and is circa 2nd Century A.D. It has a modest estimate of $4,000 to $6,000. It sold for $2,400.

A more dramatic and unusual Roman bronze handle is Lot 254, which depicts a reclining nymph, perhaps Ariadne, as she awakens from a dream of Dionysus on the island of Naxos, supporting herself atop a grape leaf. She is nude except for a mantle rolled over her hips. The handle terminates in a bust of Dionysis with a weath in his wavy hair. The lot has a conservative estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $21,600.

A more conventional Roman bronze is Lot 258, a very nice representation of Minerva that is 4 1/8 inches high. It is dated circa 1st-2nd Century A.D. and has a modest estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. It had a hammer price of $3,200.

Lot 251 is the De Clerq Venus, a Roman marble statue of Venus that is 47 inches high and dated circa 2nd Century A.D. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It was passed at $280,000.

Lot 252 is the De Clerq Cupid, a 59 1/2-inch high Roman marble statue that is also dated circa 2nd Century A. D. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $100,000. It was passed at $75,000.

Lot 253 is the Lansdowne Hermaphroditus, a Roman marble statue that is 43 3/16 inches long. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It was passed at $260,000.

Lot 285 is a very impressive head of Mars Ultor. The Roman marble is dated circa late 2nd Century A.D., and is 12 1/4 inches high. It was formerly with Robin Symes in London and The Merrin Gallery in New York. It has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It sold for $90,000.

The auction has a good selection of Greek vases.

Lot 136 is an impressive Apulian pottery figural vase in the form of a hippocamp and the catalogue notes that this hippocamp "differs from standard Greek depictions of the mystical creature in that it has fins instead of equine forelegs." It is 7 1/2 inches long and has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It sold for $144,000.

Lot 85 is a good Attic black-figured neck-amphora that is attributed to the Princeton Group and is dated circa 540 B.C. It is 13 inches high and depicts Herakles wresting the Nemean lion. It is one of many works in the auction that was once in the collection of Alfred E. Mirsky. It has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It sold for $48,000. The catalogue notes that "as punishment for killing his wife and children in a fit of insanity, Herakles was sentenced by the oracle of Apollo to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years. As part of his sentence, Eurystheus required that Herakles complete twelve seemingly impossible labors - the first of which was to bring back the skin of the lion terrorizing the hills around Nemea."

Lots 39 and 40 are South Arabian alabaster heads that are dated circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D., and both are 10 1/2 inches high. The catalogue notes that they are unfinished on top and back and were once fitted with gypsum and set in a niche on an inscribed limestone stela. Lot 39 was acquired in South Arabia in 1972 and has a modest estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $14,400. Lot 40 was acquired in South Arabia 1958-9 and was exhibited at the Birmingham City Art Gallery and Museum from 1960 to 1970. It has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $192,000.

Despite the many disappointments in this auction, there were some surprises. Lot 28 consisted of a Mesopotamian terracotta cunieform envelope and tablet, 1 15/16 inches and 1 3/8 inches long, respectively. They were dated Ur III, Reign of Amar-Suen, Year 5, circa 2043. The lot, which was once in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney, had an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800. It sold for $10,800.

Lot 36 was an Achaemenid limestone relief fragment depicted the head of a bearded nobleman in profile, circa 522-465 B.C. It was one of many objects in the auction that was property from the collection of Alfred E. Mirsky that was being sold for the benefit of the Graduate Student Program of the Rockefeller University. The object is 8 1/4 inches high and had an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $329,000.

Lot 178 is an handsome Egyptian red granite male head, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty XXI-XXII, 1070-712 B.C. The lot had an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $28,800.

Lot 175 is an Egyptian glass heart amulet, New Kingdom, Dynasty XIX, 1307-1196 B.C. It had an estimate of $4,000 to $6,000 and sold for $12,000. It is 2 1/4 inches high.