By Carter B. Horsley

This season Christie's main antiquities auction has a broad and interesting selection of Antiquities, especially smaller scale items like rings and amulets.

The auction house divided its offerings into two separate sales. The first sale, held the evening of June 3, 1999, was Ancient Glass formerly in the G. Sangiori Collection and it was extremely successful with 237 of 251 lots selling, many at multiples of the high estimates. (See The City Review article.)

In contrast, this day auction was not very successful with only about 40 percent of the 331 lots selling. Nevertheless, the two-day total of $3,664,527 was the highest sold total for Christie's New York Antiquities Department.

"Selective bidding resulted in some outstanding prices today," declared G. Max Bernheimer, the head of the department.

The most exotic work of art in this sale is probably Lot 225, shown above, a New Kingdom wood cosmetic spoon, Dynasty XVIII, 1353-1335 B.C., 9 3/4 inches long. This lot, which has a very nice patina and is in excellent condition except for aging cracks and missing eyes on the bird, is estimated at only $30,000 to $50,000. It has immense charm, but sold for only $27,600 (including the buyer's premium as do all sales prices in this article).

"In the last decade," the catalogue notes, "the theory was advanced that rather than having a strictly ornamental purpose, the spoons should be seen in a ritual funerary context, and that the charming motif of a nude swimming girl wiht a goose can be interpreted as a rebus pertaining to the afterlife. The hieroglyph of a goose can be literally read as Geb, the earth god, also known by his nickname "the great honker." Seen in this context, the maiden with the goose becomes his wife Nut, the night goddess swimming with her husband across the eternal waters of heaven."

Another New Kingdom work of art is Lot 224, shown below, a wood cosmetic dish whose dating is a little broader, 1550-1307 B.C. The 4 1/4 inch long dish has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000, reflecting its high degree of craftsmanship and gracefulness. The top of the dish, which was once in the Ernest Brummer Collection, is scooped out and the bottom is sculpted in the form of a duck. The lot sold for $46,000.

In dramatic contrast to those lots is Pan, a late Hellenistic or early Roman Period, circa 1st Century, B.C., Greek bronze statue, 5 1/4 inches high, shown below, that is the back cover illustration of the auction catalogue. With his horns and goat-like ears, this small figure, Lot 33, has an enticing arrogrance and stature that together with the relative rarity of Greek bronzes helps explain its rather aggressive estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. He carries a basket on his back. It failed to sell.

In contrast, a very fine Roman bronze figure of Zeus fom the Ian Woodner Family Collection, circa 2nd Century A.D., Lot 142, is estimated at only $4,000 to $6,000. It is 6 3/4 inches tall and also is missing parts of some limbs like the Greek statue. It sold for $17,250. A larger Roman bronze statue of Mercury from the same period, Lot 144, is estimated at $12,000 to $18,000, reflecting its nice size of 9 1/4 inches, which includes a circular pedestal base that is part of the sculpture. It failed to sell.

Small Roman bronze statues of gods are popular with many collectors as are Greek terracotta figures because both embody so much of the grace and elegance we associate with the Classical Ages. Lot 29, for example, is a lovely Greek terracotta figure of Eros, Hellenistic period, late 3rd to early 2nd Century, B.C. Depicted with outstretched wings and wearing a helmut, this graceful figure is reminiscent of many tanagra pieces in its wonderfully sculpted drapery . The 4 1/2 inch high figure has an estimate of only $2,000 to $3,000. It sold for $3,680. Even more interesting is Lot 27, shown below, an Attic "Plastic" vase, Classical Period, circa 4th Century B.C., 5 1/4 inches high. The work depicts a winged Nike seated upon a lion and has an appropriate estimate of $10,000 to $15,000, reflecting its provenance and the fact that it was exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, in 1967. Unfortunately, it was withdrawn from the auction.

The auction has an excellent selection of rings, many superior to anything that might be found in Fifth Avenue jewelry stores. Lot 89, for example, shown below, is a Roman gold and nicolo finger ring, circa 1st Century, A.D., with a delicately engraved representation of the Apollo Sauroktonos shown by a tree while aiming a dart at a tiny lizard clambering up the tree truck. The Apollo Sauroktonos, the catalogue notes, "was one of the masterpieces by the 4th Century B.C. sculptor Praxiteles, known from the famous Roman marble copy now in the Louvre." This lot is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000. It sold for $13,800.

Other fine rings include Lot 82, a Greek gold ring showing two Erotes harvesting grapes, one of whom is climbing a ladder; Lot 105, a Roman onyx cameo ring depicted a winged Cupid and Psyche; and Lot 109, a Sassanian haematite stamp seal, circa 6th Century A. D., fluted with an engraved portrait bust. Lot 82 is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. It failed to sell. Lot 105 is estimated at $3,000 to $5,000. It sold for $2,760. Lot 109 is estimated at $1,000 to $1,500. It failed to sell.

There are many attractive Greek vases including Lot 11, a Attic Black-figure neck amphora, circle of the Antimes painter, circa 550-510 B.C., from the collection of William R. and Linda C. Houston, which is conseratively estimated at $30,000 to $50,000 and sold for $28,750; Lot 16, a lovely Attic Red-Figure kylix, circa 510-500 B.C., that is a bit ambitiously estimated at $300,000 to $400,000 and failed to sell; a very pleasant Apulian Red-Figure pelike, circa 350-350 B.C., that is conservatively estimated at $6,000 to $8,000; and two very decorative Apulian Red-Figure pieces attributed to the Baltimore painter, Lots 41 and 42, a patera and a amphora, estimated at $6,000 to $8,000 and $20,000 to $25,000, respectively. Lot 41 sold for $8,625 and Lot 42 sold for $20,700.

Other highlights included the following:

Lot 66 is a finely engraved Etruscan bronze mirror, circa 350 B.C., that is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $8,970.

Lot 126, the "Landsdowne" Trajan, is a very impressive and large Roman sculpture of the emperor, circa 98-117 A.D., that is conservatively estimated at $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $112,500.

Lot 141 is a fine marble figure of a member of the imperial family in Rome, circa mid-late 2nd Century, A.D., which is estimated conservatively at $120,000 to $150,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 223, an Amarna sandstone relief, Dynasty XVIII, reign of Akhenaten, 1353-1335 B.C., sold for $74,000, more than double its low estimate.

Lot 264 is a stunning Egyptian gilt wood ibis head, Late Period to Ptolemaic Period, 664-630 B.C., that is 18 3/4 inches long and originally surmounted the wrappings of a mummified ibis,. It is estimated at $5,000 to $7,000 and is strikingly modern. It sold for $5,175.

Lot 266 is a very nice and impressive bronze and alabaster ibis with an inlaid gold collar, mounted on its original wood base inscribed for its owner, Sa-Amun, Late Period to Ptolemaic Period, 664-630 B.C. It is estimated at $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $40,250.

There are several fine amulets including the following: Lot 288, a rock crystal amulet of Theoris, the pregnant hippopatamus-headed deity, Late Period, Dynasty XXVI-XXX, 664-343 B.C., which is estimated at $7,000 to $9,000, which sold for $5,750; Lot 322, a carnelian amulet of a sphinx, 1 inch long, same period as Lot 288, which is estimated at $1,500 to $2,000 and sold for $1,725; and Lot 325, a lapis amulet of Theoris, 1 3/8 inches high, estimated at only $2,000 to $3,000 and which did not sell.