LONDON – Collectors of antiquities, ancient art and material culture know the Apollo Art Auctions name stands for quality and authenticity. The firm’s next event, an Ancient Art, Antiquities and Militaria Auction scheduled for Sunday, September 24, features a wealth of works spanning most of recorded history. Bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
A top prize is the is 2ft 4in Roman marble figure of Cupid (Eros) holding a large bunch of harvested grapes. Finely carved in the round circa 200 A.D., it showcases the artist’s great skill at translating human anatomy to stone. With a provenance to several British and Continental galleries and collections, the estimate is £10,000-£15,000 ($12,490-$18,735).
The aesthetics of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.) are captured with exceptional elegance and vitality in a 17in terracotta rider on a horse. With a thermoluminescence report confirming its age, it is estimated at £4,000-£6,000 ($4,995-$7,490).
The Gandharan school, which produced the first sculptural representations of the Buddha in human form, is hailed for its artists’ realistic and natural depiction of features “in perfection.” The Kushan period, circa 200-300 A.D., is regarded as its apex. From that timeframe comes two schist carvings: a standing Buddha figure with a halo similar to another in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a relief triad portraying Buddha Shakyamuni attended by the bodhisattvas Brahma and Indra. They are estimated at £12,000-£20,000 ($14,980-$24,975) and £10,000-£15,000 ($12,490-$18,735), respectively.
Form and function unite sympathetically in a 12in red-figure amphora made in the 4th century B.C. in Apulia, Magna Graecia. Its decorative program includes images of a young lady of fashion leaning on a pedestal fountain, and a nude, winged Eros holding a phiale and tambourine. The vessel’s line of provenance indicates prior ownership by two ancient art galleries and the estate collection of Tony Gilyard in New York in addition to inclusion in a 2020 sale at Skinner. The estimate is £6,000-£9,000 ($7,490-$11,340).
Armaments of ancient warriors and battles, including many swords, helmets, daggers and spearheads, await collectors in this auction. A circa-1st century B.C. to 1st-century A.D. Roman bronze Montefortino helmet is one depicted in numerous reference books and in the catalog for Christie’s 2002 sale of the legendary Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour. It is estimated at £10,000-£15,000 ($12,490-$18,735).
A mighty Viking forged iron sword with a broad blade used to pierce armor or deliver devastating blows in battle has a European provenance that includes the F Haushau collection formed in Germany in the 1970s-80s. Its assigned estimate is £2,500-£3,000 ($3,120-$3,745).
A popular category in every Apollo Art Auctions sale is ancient jewelry. Bursting with history and exquisitely crafted, many pieces are also wearable.
A circa-500-400 B.C. gold ring with a lozenge-shape bezel engraved with a detailed image of a bull is estimated at £6,000-£12,000 ($7,490-$14,980) while a 1st century B.C. Romano-Egyptian hollow-form gold bracelet designed with a Hercules knot and set with a garnet cabochon is estimated £3,000-£6,000 ($3,745-$7,490).
Specialist Dr Ivan Bonchev said: “Egypto-Roman gold jewelry serves as a testament to the cultural exchange and artistic fusion that occurred during the historical period when Egypt was under Roman rule. Combining Egyptian and Roman elements, unique pieces such as this bracelet encapsulate the artistic sensibilities and symbolic motifs of both civilizations.”
Dolphins were sacred animals to the ancient Greeks, who associated the marine mammals with the sun god Apollo. One of the earliest jewelry designs in the sale pays homage to the playful cetaceans: a pair of circa-4th century B.C. Greek Hellenistic gold filigree and lapis lazuli earrings that have a £3,000-£6,000 ($3,745-$7,490) estimate.
