Archéologie & Antiquiities

Margiana. A Kingdom of the Bronze Age in Turkmenistan. With photographs by Herlinde Koelbl. Exhibition view Neues Museum 2018 © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum of Pre- and Protohistory / David von Becker BERLIN.- Margiana – around 4,000 years ago, this historic landscape in eastern Turkmenistan was the cradle of a fascinating and sophisticated Bronze Age culture. Contemporary with the civilisations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, it has nevertheless remained relatively unknown in the West. Now for... [Lire la suite]

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Founded in 1887, the Penn Museum sent the first United States archaeological expedition to the Middle East—to the ancient Mesopotamian site of Nippur in what was then the Ottoman Empire. More than 130 years and hundreds of international expeditions later, the Museum remains a world leader in Near Eastern archaeology, with a collection of more than 100,000 artifacts; a leading collection of cuneiform tablets bearing early literary, historical, and economic texts; strong Islamic period... [Lire la suite]

“The Beauty of Palmyra” (detail), AD 190–210, limestone, pigment, and gold. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen IN 2795 LOS ANGELES, CA.- The ancient city of Palmyra (“Place of Palms”), well situated in an oasis in the Syrian desert, flourished between the first and third centuries AD. At the crossroads of trade routes between the Roman and Parthian Persian empires, the people of Palmyra embellished their tombs with distinctive funerary portraits that illuminate the rich cultural exchanges and interactions taking place... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3061. A Roman marble relief torso of a man, circa 2nd century A.D.; 40 cm, 15 3/4  in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD (52,557 - 73,580 EUR). Lot Sold 475,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2018. standing with the weight on his right leg, and wearing a mantle falling from his left shoulder, leaving his chest bare, and draped over his left forearm and hip. Provenance: Collection of Princess Aldobrandini, by repute.Rothschild auction, 1960s-1970s, by repute.Estate of Dr... [Lire la suite]

COPENHAGEN.- The unique Roman silver treasure from Berthouville in France has previously only been exhibited in the USA and France. Now, exceptionally, it is on view in Denmark. It is the 3rd century AD and the Roman Empire extends across vast areas of Europe. In these occupied regions, for better or for worse, the Romans spread their culture. This also includes a decadent proclivity for celebration and excess. From 14th March 2018 visitors to the Glyptotek can give their imagination free rein as regards... [Lire la suite]

Carved Ivory Relief, Roman, 2nd-3rd century AD, 9.5 x 15.5cm, from the Giorgio Sangiorgi (1885-1965) Collection. Asking price: €110,000. © Charles Ede  LONDON.- Charles Ede will unveil this rare Roman carved ivory relief dating to the 2nd-3rd century AD as the centrepiece of their TEFAF Maastricht display from March 10-18. “I don’t recall such an ivory piece of this quality and size being on the market for a long while,” says the firm’s managing director Martin Clist. Depicting... [Lire la suite]

NASHVILLE, TENN.- Rome: City and Empire brings to Nashville more than 200 of the British Museum’s most engaging and beautiful Roman objects to tell the dramatic story of how Rome grew from a cluster of small villages into a mighty empire. This marks the first time that art and artifacts from ancient Rome and its empire will be on display at the Frist Center, which is the sole North American venue on the tour. The British Museum’s exceptionally broad collections—world renowned for its classical antiquities—have enabled the... [Lire la suite]

Group of Neith and her son Horus, Egypt, Late Period, circa 664-332 BC. Bronze with gold ??. Height 19 cm. Galerie CYBELE (Stand 435). © TEFAF 2018 The rectangular base says inscribed 'May Neith grant life, all prosperity, a long lifetime, a good old age for the revered one Tay-Neith daughter of Psamtek.' For a similar group of Neith and two child deities dedicated to Ouahibreseneb see the Louvre, cf. inv. no. E 7996, now exhibited. Provenance: Private collection Mrs. H. S. collection, Switzerland, acquired... [Lire la suite]

Appliqué depicting the Sun God Usil, Etruscan, 500 - 475 B.C. Italy, Vulci. Bronze. H: 20 cm (7 7/8 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California. LOS ANGELES, CA.- The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today the acquisition of an early 5th-century B.C. bronze appliqué depicting the Etruscan Sun God Usil. “This bronze appliqué that probably decorated an Etruscan chariot or funeral cart is of exceptional quality, representing the peak period of an artistic milieu in which Greek and Italic aesthetics... [Lire la suite]

Greek, ‘Body Armour’, Magna Graecia, ca. 350 BCE. Cast and hammered bronze, 27 in, 68.6 cm. Unique. © ArtAncient "But tell us, Pistias, why do you sell your armour for more money than any other, when it is neither better tempered, stronger, nor the materials of it more costly?”“I make it better proportioned, Socrates, and therefore I ought to have a better price.” Xenophon, Memorabilia. Axel Guttmann collection, acquired 1988. Contact Gallery for price. ... [Lire la suite]