News-Antique.com - May 24,2007 - New York – On June 8, Christie’s New York will hold its bi-annual sale of Antiquities. This season,
the auction will offer a particularly beautiful selection of Greek works of art, including a superb
limestone head of Hermes and a marble torso of Artemis, alongside fine examples of Roman,
Egyptian, Phoenician and Near Eastern works of art.
Roman highlights
A Roman bronze head of a man, circa 1st century B.C. – 1st century A.D.
Exquisitely modeled, this is the head of a youthful man with smooth skin, high
cheekbones, sensual lips and luscious tousled curls. The style is reminiscent of
earlier Greek forms which was very much sought after by Roman collectors.
Estimate: $300,000-500,000
A Roman marble mosaic panel, circa 3rd century A.D.
The scene depicts a central figure surrounded by a
leopard, a panther and representations of winged, nude
Eros figures, set in elaborate scrolling foliage.
Estimate: $200,000-300,000
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Greek highlights
A Greek limestone head of Hermes, Classical Period, circa 4th century B.C.
Mainland and Western Greek artists employed limestone for their sculptures
beginning in the Archaic Period. Like all Greek sculptures, this fine statue of a
god would have been brightly painted. The fact that a deity is presented,
sculpted in the round, harmoniously proportioned and showing crisp, refined
details, suggests that this work may once have served as a cult statue or in a
temple pediment. Estimate: $250,000-350,000
A Greek marble torso of Artemis, Hellenistic Period, circa 1st century B.C.
This sculpture depicts the goddess wearing diaphanous garments, revealing her
body beneath, and is sculpted in an elegant and sophisticated way, particularly
the treatment of the drapery and the rendering of the vigorous forward
movement. Estimate: $180,000-220,000
A Greek marble portrait of a man, Late Hellenistic Period, circa 1st century B.C.
The head is slightly turned to the right and reveals a distinctive hooked nose,
thin lips pressed together, a finely trimmed moustache and a beard roughly
picked to be completed in stucco. The use of stucco to finish details is typical
of sculpture associated with the Ptolemaic court of Egypt. Also unusual in this
portrait is the extent of preservation of the painted details, especially for the
individual eye lashes. Estimate: $50,000-80,000
A Greek bronze dancer, Hellenistic Period, circa 2nd-1st Century B.C.
Among the striking characteristics of this sensual bronze is the depiction of a
female dancer in such a risqué costume. Indeed – the torso is elongated, the
small breasts are set high on the chest, she is playing the castanets and the only
garment worn by her is a band-like perizoma, covering her buttocks. Estimate:
$60,000-90,000
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An attic red-figured Kylix, Attributed to Onesimos, circa 490-480 B.C.
The depicted scene is a hoplitodromos, a footrace between nude
competitors armed with greaves, helmet and shield, and it made its
appearance during the Olympic Games in 520 B.C. Onesimos is
considered one of the finest cup painters of the generation succeeding
the Pioneers. Estimate: $60,000-90,000
Egyptian highlights
An Egyptian wood
