Literature: Justine Gräfin Rosenberg-Orsini, Alticchiero, Padua, 1787, p. 46ff., pl. XX.
F. Rinck, "Alte Denkmale in Venedig und seiner Umgegend," in Kunst Blatt, August 1828, no. 62, p. 248.
C. Dolzani, "Cimeli egiziani del Museo Civico di Padova I," in Bollettino del Museo Civico di Padova, LVII, 1968, p. 9.
A. Roullet, The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monuments of Imperial Rome, Leiden, 1972, pp. 109-110, no. 184, pl. CXLVIII, fig. 207.
C. Dolzani, "Presenze di origine egiziana nell'ambiente aquileiese e nell'alto adriatico," in Aquileia e l"Oriente Mediterraneo: atti della VII Settimana di studi aquileiesi, 24 aprile - 1 maggio 1976, Udine, 1977, p. 131.
E. D'Amicone, "Itinerario nelle collezioni egizie del Veneto," in S. Curto and A. Roccati, Tesori dei Faraoni, Milan, 1984, p. 84.
M.L. Bierbrier, "The Vizier Parahotep and the High Priest of Onuris Minmose in the Townley Papers," in Chronique d'Egypte, 63, 1988, pp. 217, 219-220.
E. D'Amicone, "Antico Egitto e Collezionismo veneto e veneziano," in Venezia e l'archeologia, Un importante capitolo nella storia del gusto dell'antico nella cultura artistica veneziana, international congress, (Rivista di Archeologia, Supplementi 7), Rome, 1990, p. 24. E. Varin, "Notes sur la dispersion de quelques objets égyptiens provenant de la villa Quirini à Alticchiéro," in Revue d'égyptologie, 53, 2002, pp. 220-221, pl. XXVIII.
S.-A. Ashton, Roman Egyptomania, London, 2004, no. 105, pp. 180-185.
L. Vedovato, Villa Farsetti nella Storia, II, Venice, 2004, pp. 24, 65, and 142 note 153.
S. Androsov, et al., Con gli occhi di Canova: la Collezione Farsetti del Museo Ermitage, Pontedera, 2005, pp. 31, 42.

Exhibited: Cambridge, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Roman Egyptomania, 24 September 2004 - 8 May 2005.

 

Notes: Literary sources from the later 18th century inform that this exquisite and important figure of an Egyptian Queen was discovered in the ruins of Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.  The statue dates from the 2nd century A.D., a period of fanatical Egyptomania for the Roman aristocracy, as evinced by the many surviving monuments in Rome.  Perhaps the most enthusiastic exponent of Roman Egyptomania was the Emperor Hadrian, who traveled there twice, first in 117 A.D., and again, for close to a year, in 130 A.D.  He journeyed throughout the country with an entourage that included the Egyptian priest Pachrates, as well as the Emperor's ill-fated favorite, Antinoös, who drowned in the Nile and was deified by Hadrian as the Egyptian god Osiris-Antinoös.  Hadrian outfitted his Villa with an Egyptianizing program incorporating numerous sculptures, some appropriated from Egypt (a few as early as the Middle Kingdom in date), while others, as with the Queen presented here, were purely Roman creations in the Egyptian style.

The pose of the Queen is similar to two over-lifesized granite statues of the Ptolemaic Queen Arsinoe II, found in 1710 in the Villa Verospi, on the grounds of what had been the Egyptian pavilion of the Imperial Gardens of Sallust in Rome, and now in the Vatican (see nos. 180 and 181 in Roullet, The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monuments of Imperial Rome).  One is a Ptolemaic original with identifying hieroglyphic inscription, while the other is a Roman copy with a garbled inscription.  The proportions and attributes are the same on all three, although the scale of the present statue is much smaller, so it may be that the Arsinoe was the inspiration for the sculptor of the present Queen.  This statue is a masterpiece, perfectly illustrating the Hadrianic manner for interpreting Egyptian sculpture.

Basanite is a hard stone that was quarried in Egypt at the Wadi Hammamat oasis in the Eastern desert.  According to Mattusch (Pompeii and the Roman Villa, p. 96), this dark stone, not be confused with basalt, was considered sacred to the Egyptians, and, as such, it was favored in pre-Roman Egypt for sculptures of deities.  Roman period inscriptions prove that the quarry came to be controlled by the Romans, with a direct link to the emperor, and it remained in operation through the 3rd century A.D. Use of the stone appealed to the imperial family for sculpture, including portraiture (see the portrait of Livia, no. 7 in Mattusch, op. cit.) not only for its challenge of carving, but in its link to the exoticism of Egypt. As such, Mattusch proffers, "basanite also can be seen as making a pointed reference to the Roman domination of Egypt."

The Egyptianizing portion of Hadrian's Villa included the Canopus, built around a canal and designed to evoke Alexandria, and a Serapeaum, or temple of the Egyptian god Serapis. Hadrian and his wife Sabina came to be associated with Serapis and Isis, with whom they are shown shaking hands on a coin minted in Alexandria.  Within the villa were numerous portraits of Antinoös in Egyptian costume.  So far more than ten statues of the goddess Isis have been found at Tivoli, as well as many other Egyptian deities, pharaohs, and the Queen presented here.

The Queen's first modern owner was the Venetian nobleman Filippo Farsetti (1703-1774), who would have displayed her at his Palazzo di San Luca in Venice.  The Queen is recorded in his collection in two early inventories, one prior to 1778, the other in 1778, as a "Figura egizia di femmina, di pietra di basalto" (see Venice, Biblioteca del Museo Correr, Mss. PD.206 C 2 and Padua, Biblioteca Universitaria, Ms. 1997/2).  The second inventory informs that the statue became the property of Farsetti's cousin and heir, Daniele Farsetti, who later traded her for a bust of Pietro Aretino with another Venetian, Angelo Querini (1721-1795).  In 1765 Querini inherited the family palace in Venice and the Alticchiero estate near Padua, where he installed the Queen together with his collection of busts, ancient and modern.  A description of the villa and garden was published in 1787 by Querini's friend, Justine Gräfin Rosenberg-Orsini, a former lover of Casanova and the widow of Count Philip Orsini-Rosenberg, the Austrian ambassador to Venice.  She informs (Alticchiero, p. 465ff.) that the statue, mistakenly identified by her as an Isis, was displayed with a number of other Egyptian sculptures in an area called "Canope," in homage to Hadrian.  The statue stood upon two porphyry bases, the uppermost carved with lotus leaves and shells, as can be seen in her plate XX (see illustration above).

Very little is known about the Queen's ownership history through the 19th and early 20th centuries.  The English antiquarian Charles Townley (1737 -1805) communicated with Querini in the 1780s about the collection, and in 1804 Sir John Stepney wrote to Townley about the collection, and praised the Queen above all the other Egyptian antiquities.  Stepney offered to negotiate a better price, but Townley did not, in the end, buy the collection.  The Querini collection was dispersed sometime after 1804, with some parts eventually purchased by the Berlin Museum in 1823 (see Bierbrier, "The Vizier Parahotep and the High Priest of Onuris Minmose in the Townley Papers," p. 220).  She may have been acquired by Thomas Hope, who is known to have owned an "Egyptian Isis, in green basalt, ancient" (see Westmacott, British Galleries of Painting and Sculpture, 1824, p. 216).  More recently she was the property of an English Priavte Collector at Harrington House, Warwickshire, whose impressive collection was sold at Christie's more than a decade ago.

 

Literature: M. Mayo, ed., The Art of South Italy, Vases from Magna Graecia, Richmond, 1982, no. 73.
A.D. Trendall and A. Cambitoglou, First Supplement to the Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, London, 1983, no. 28/86b, pls. XXXIII,2 and XXXIV,2. A.D. Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily, London, 1989, no. 268.

 

Exhibited: Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and elsewhere, The Art of South Italy, Vases from Magna Graecia, 12 May 1982 - 10 April 1983.

 

Notes: This extraordinary krater, and the following three, were first publically shown in this country in the extensive and ground-breaking exhibition on South Italian vase painting curated by Maggie Mayo that traveled to Richmond, Tulsa and Detroit in 1982 and 1983.  In preparation for that exhibit, Arthur Dale Trendall, the world-renowned expert on western Greek pottery, recognized that despite having examined nearly every Apulian red-figured vase in existence, he had never previously encountered works attributable to the painter of this group.  He saw that the workmanship was close to the Painter of Berlin F 3383, a follower of the Baltimore Painter and contemporary of the White Saccos Painter, and that there were "stylistic affinities" with the Arpi Painter.  He named this previously unknown painter, accordingly, the Virginia Exhibition Painter. The obverse of all four vases (and a fifth, sold in these rooms with a portion of the collection of John W. Kluge in June 2004) shows one, two or three figures within an Ionic naiskos or aedicula. According to Mayo, p. 197, op. cit., the figures depicted therein, when in added white, may be considered to be sculptures in stone or figures in the afterlife, while those in reserved red-figure are perhaps rather those living in this world.

 

 

 

 

A pair of Bactrian gold and turquoise bracelets, circa 1st century A.D.Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

Each solid-cast, circular in section, formed into a kidney-shaped open hoop, the feline-head terminals with snarling open mouths, the whiskers rendered as an incised rosette, the eyes drop shaped, the outer corners pointed, the surrounding contours stamped, incised petal-form markings on the cheeks, the pointed ears with hatched tufts, the top and sides with drop-shaped turquoise inlays; Larger: 3 13/16 (9.6 cm.) wide. Estimate: $90,000-120,000

 

Provenance: Private Collection, 1960s; thence by descent, London, 1970s.
Acquired by the current owner, London, 1996.

 

Notes: For a pair of bracelets from Tillya Tepe with somewhat more elaborate lion head terminals, also with turquoise inlays, see no. 140 in Hiebert and Cambon, Afghanistan, Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.  For a pair with goat head terminals and turquoise inlays, see no. 58, op. cit.

 

 

A Celtic gold torque, circa late 5th - early 4th century B.C. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

Formed from stout sheet, the back zone circular in section, expanding towards the front zone where it becomes a flattened oval in section, the zones offset by raised cushions, each end of the back zone with stylized scrolling palmettes, one portion of the back zone formed from a separate piece, designed to swivel on one end, open for insertion at the other, each side of the front zone ornamented with elaborate voluted scrolling, the spiraling volutes serving as the eyes of highly-stylized anthropomorphic faces, the central face with a carinated projection at the center formed from a paler gold, the scrolling and fronds enhanced by incision and hatching, the outer edge beaded; 6 7/8 in. (17.4 cm.) long. Estimate: $70,000-90,000

 

Provenance: Art Market, Munich.
Private Collection, South Bavaria, prior to the early 1970s.

 

Notes: The scrolling and palmettes on this torque find their ultimate inspiration from the art of the Greeks and Etruscans.  When modified by the Celts, these motifs become stylistically uniquely Celtic.  For a torque with similar scrolling see the example from Waldalgesheim, Germany, p. 213 in Kruta, et al., The Celts.

 

 

 

A Meroitic gold bead necklace, circa 1st century A.D. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

Composed of nineteen ram head pendants, formed of sheet halves around a core with a flat back, depicted frontally, with curving ribbed horns behind everted ears, the narrow eyes in relief, the muzzle rounded, a uraeus above, interspersed with biconical beads; 11 in. (27.9 cm.) long. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000

 

Provenance: Art Market, New York, late 1980s.

 

Notes: The ram heads represent the god Amun.  For a related group of beads see no. 380, p. 332 in Wildung, ed., Sudan, Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile.

 

 

 

A Thracian gold finger ring, circa 5th century B.C. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

 The solid stirrup-shaped hoop bevelled, tapering toward the flat pointed oval bezel, engraved with a horse and rider striding to the left, the rider wearing a short chiton, holding a spear in one hand and the horse's reins in the other, a Thracian inscription in Greek letters above: ΠΙΠΩΙ ΕΟΤΥΤ, a trilobed bud in the field to the left; 1 in. (2.5 cm.) wide; ring size 9½  Estimate: $30,000-50,000

 

Provenance: Property of a Physician, Germany, 1970s.
Private Collection, Bavaria, 1980s.

 

Notes: For gold rings depicting Thracian horsemen see nos. 113-114 in Marazov, ed., Ancient Gold: Wealth of the Thracians. The Thracian language, devoid of its own alphabet, borrowed Greek characters. The inscription on the present example likely referred to the name of the owner of the ring or of a deity. The words may also have an onomatopoetic connotation, for a woodpecker and a young piping bird, respectively. The iconography in these rings may have roots in the cult of the Thracian divine horseman.

 

 

 

A pair of Greek gold maenad earrings. Hellenistic period, circa 3rd-2nd century B.C. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

Each with a tapering hoop formed from four ropes of two coiled wires, merging into a hook looped through a ring at the back of the head, the spool-shaped collar with two ridges of beaded wire, the terminal in the form of a finely-modelled head of a maenad, each with a crown of ivy and berries in her curly hair, with incised strands along the cheeks, one with a band across the forehead and a diminutive Egyptianizing crown formed of a solar disk and cow horns, and one with a crosshatched trapezoidal pendant along the forehead; 1¼ in. (3.1 cm.) wide (2). Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000

 

Provenance: Private Collection, England.
Art Market, London, 1989.

 

Notes: Maenad-headed earrings were one of the most popular Hellenistic types (see nos. 1684-1707 in Marshall, Catalogue of the Jewellery, Greek, Etruscan and Roman in the Departments of the Antiquities, British Museum).  The pair presented here is unusual in terms of the large size and the fact that the heads have different attributes.

 

 

 

A Roman carnelian ringstone, circa late 1st century B.C. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

The flat oval exquisitely engraved with a maenad riding on a hippocamp, the maenad in an elaborate twisting pose, her head turned back over her shoulder, shown in three-quarter view, her voluptuous nude torso turning to her left, the left side compressed, with a mantle wrapped around her legs and swirling behind her in a circular arc that frames her torso, her right arm around the hippocamp's neck, her fingers curving back, supporting a filleted thyrsus, her left arm lowered to the head of a dolphin swimming beside her, trailing the ends of her mantle from her hand, her feet overlapping the dolphin's long tail, the hippocamp with the forelegs raised above waves, its head naturalistically detailed, a corner of the maenad's mantle projecting forward below the hippocamp's head, its coiled tail with the fluke upraised, the waves undulating below;  11/16 in. (1.7 cm.) wide. Estimate: $25,000-35,000

 

Provenance: Alfred Morrison (1821-1897); Christie's, London, 29 June 1898, lot 75. Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941); Pierres gravées antiques: collection d'un archéologue-explorateur, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 8 May 1905, lot 64, pl. 5.
Alexander Constantine Ionides (1862-1931); thence by descent.
Acquired by the current owner, London, 1978.

 

Property from a British Private Collection

 

Literature: J. Boardman, Engraved Gems, The Ionides Collection, London, 1968, no. 28.

 

Notes: The fine style of this gem and the perfectly balanced composition indicates that this is the work of a master engraver.  Although the artist did not sign his work, and indeed only very few gem-engravers ever did during the Roman period, there are enough stylistic similarities to suggest that this might be associated with the work of the gem engraver Sostratos, who signs at least three cameos and one intaglio.  Other unsigned gems have been attributed to him based on style (see Vollenweider, Die Steinschneidekunst und ihre Künstler in spätrepublikanischer und augusteicher Zeit, pp. 32-63; and Spier, Ancient Gems and Finger Rings, p. 154).  His works is characterized by a preference for Bacchic scenes, the use of complex poses, as seen here in the twisting three-quarter maenad, and, on his cameos, the skillful use of the drill for minute details, something seen here along the tail of the hippocamp.  Although this gem may not be by the artist himself, there are enough elements in common to suggest it could at least be from his workshop.  For female figures riding on a hippocamp, Nereids are typically depicted (see the cameos, no. 59 and 68 in Gasparri, Le Gemme Farnese); the presence of the thyrsus indicates that our rider should be a maenad, a female follower of Dionysus.

 

 

 

A Roman black jasper ringstone with a portrait of Mark Antony, circa 40-30 B.C.  Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

 

 The flat oval stone engraved with a portrait of the Triumvir in the veristic style, his thick hair brushed forward, forming a fringe across his creased forehead, the locks carefully delineated, his large eye beneath a prominent arching brow, his nose aquiline, the corner of his mouth downturned, his small chin protruding; ¾ in. (1.9 cm.) long. Estimate: $70,000 - $90,000

 

Provenance: with Robin Symes, London, 1999 (Royal Portraits and the Hellenistic Kingdoms, no. 30b).
Private Collection, New York, 2002.

 

Notes: Mark Antony (Marcus Antoninus) was born to a patrician Roman family on 14 January circa 82 B.C.  After a reckless youth in Rome, he fled to Greece to avoid his creditors.  He was summoned east to take part in the campaign against Aristobulus II, where he distinguished himself as an able cavalry commander.  In 54 B.C., Antony became a staff officer for Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars, with whom he was distantly related.  Despite his personality quirks, he rose through the ranks, holding the offices of Quaestor, Augur, and Tribune.  After Caesar's murder in 44 B.C., he formed a triumvirate with Caesar's adopted heir Octavian and Lepidus, and was charged with the reorganization of the eastern half of the Empire.

At Tarsus in Syria in 41 B.C. he met the young Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, and they wintered together in Egypt.  The following year he returned to Rome and married Octavian's sister Octavia, but left her in 39 B.C. to continue his work in the east, where he renewed his relationship with Cleopatra.  In 36 B.C. Lepidus was compelled to retire from the triumvirate, and Antony solidified his position in an expanding Egypt, which lead to open conflict with Octavian.  The decisive battle took place at Actium in 31 B.C. in which Antony and Cleopatra were defeated, after which they fled to Egypt.  He committed suicide in 30 B.C. before Octavian's army could enter Alexandria (see Richardson and Cadoux, "Antonius," in The Oxford Classical Dictionary).

The portrait of Mark Antony on the gem presented here faithfully replicates his likeness as seen on his coinage during the 30s B.C. (see pls. 130-135 in Vollenweider, Die Porträtgemmen der römischen Republik).  Several other portraits gems are known in the same style, which were perhaps worn by his followers (see Vollenweider, op. cit., pl. 135,2).  The style is still well within the Roman Republican tradition for accurate, even brutally-realistic representations.  One portrait of him signed by the artist Gnaios, shows him in a more idealized fashion, and may have been a posthumous creation at the court of his daughter Cleopatra Selene and Juba II of Numidia (see no. 18 in Boardman, Engraved Gems, The Ionides Collection).