Artemis Gallery LIVE goes Roman for March 14 auction

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – Artemis Gallery LIVE will present a spectacular one-day auction of the fine antiquities, pre-Columbian, Far Eastern, Native American and ethnographic art on Friday, March 14, the day before the infamous Ides of March.

“This auction is truly special,” says Teresa Dodge, owner of Artemis Gallery LIVE. “Our usual offering of authentic ancient art is complemented by unique and exciting African, Native American, and Spanish Colonial pieces. It’s like taking a trip around the world, without leaving the comfort of your home or your computer.”

LiveAuctioneers.com will facilitate Internet live bidding.

This online sale begins its voyage with the splendor of the ancient Classical world. The timeless beauty of Egyptian art is on full display with brilliant blue ushabtis, bronze and faience amulets, and an important Egyptian diorite conical offering bowl (Lot 1A), impressively sized and stunning in form. The iconic elegance of Ancient Greece is embodied by a spectacular Greek Attic Lekythos, very rare, depicting Ariadne leading two satyrs to a bacchic ritual (Lot 20), while northern Greece is represented with an exceptional Hallstadt bronze situla (Lot 19). As is appropriate for an auction so near the Ides of March, the mighty Roman Empire is well represented here. A grouping of elegant marble statues includes a stately Roman marble head of Jupiter (Lot 48A) with curly beard and expressive eyes and mouth, a pudgy Roman marble statue of Eros (Lot 48B) with dimpled knees and prominent belly, and a tall and elegant statue of the satyr Silenus, an all around party animal, clad in a voluminously draped garment (Lot 48C). Additionally, the Roman offerings include an exceptionally fine collection of Roman glass, beautifully preserved with striking iridescence ranging from the fiery to the richly elegant (Lots 43-71A). Highlights include a deep blue Roman glass pitcher (Lot 60), gorgeously decorated with frills resembling a Greek woman’s peplos, the ancient inspiration for the trendy peplum top. An impressive Roman glass baby feeder positively glows with iridescence (Lot 54), and a glass unguent proudly displays the colors of the rainbow (Lot 56). Finally, a late Roman / early Byzantine mosaic (Lot 70B), formerly exhibited at the Halie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Ore., gives a colorful glimpse into ancient interiors.

Leaving the classical world, the auction moves to Northern Europe, with jewelry and weaponry that illustrate the artistry as well as the power of the mighty Vikings (Lots 73-77). From there, we move to the Far East, where magnificent funerary sculptures include a nine-piece set of processional statues (Lot 78E), finely crafted with humor and pathos. Also from China is a Han Dynasty royal court lady (Lot 78A), fascinating in the detail of her dress – an ancient fashion plate. The mystical beauty of the Buddha is captured by a large Qi Dynasty stone Buddha head (Lot 78G), and our journey through Asia comes to a close with a Chinese Qing Dynasty 50 taels silver sycee, a major form of Chinese currency for a period of more than 1,000 years (Lot 78I).

Exploration of the New World begins with a beautiful Olmec Stone Figurine, breathtakingly carved (Lot 80), and moves through the various representative cultures of pre-Columbian art. Highlights include a pre-Columbian Loma Negra gold nose ornament (81B) finely crafted to depict a string of crabs catching fish, a truly exceptional Colima Comala transforming shaman (Lot 86), and an Ulua Mayan cylinder with winged “angel” figures (101A). Also of note is a Mayan stone palma (Lot 101F), from the private collection of a Hollywood producer/director and the late Santa Fe, N.M., dealer Ron Messick, and a massive complete Mayan incensario (Lot 101G). The important Quimbaya Poporo gold vessel (Lot 103B) is as charming as it is impressive at 150 grams of gold. A colorful Costa Rican Nicoya polychrome jaguar vessel (Lot 107) captures the magic of a shaman assuming animal form. The prehistoric Native American Mimbres bowl (Lot 120A), also from a private Hollywood, Calif., collection, invites contemplation of what prehistoric Arizona might have looked like. A magnificent antique rattlesnake basket from the Yokuts tribe of Tulare County, Calif., showcases Native American craftsmanship at its finest (Lot 123), and a series of stunning antique Mexican retablos and ex-Votos blend folk art with religious iconography in a perfect marriage of Old and New World splendor (Lots 127A-129J).

Finally, sights turn to Africa, with spectacular and important pieces such as the Lobi wood female figure (131B), and the Bamana wood granary door, (Lot 142), both deaccessioned from the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta.

The auction will start at 9 a.m. Mountain time, 11 a.m. Eastern, on Friday, March 14.

For additional information about the auction call Teresa Dodge directly at 720-502-5289 or send her an email at artemisgallerylive@gmail.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

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