A thread for my antiquities

[DonnaML]

Rather than clutter up the existing thread with photos of my various ancient artifacts, primarily Greek, Roman, and Egyptian -- which I've bought over the last 40 years or so, beginning long before I collected ancient coins -- I thought I would start a separate thread. For one thing, it will make the photos easier for me to find than in the other place, where the photos are scattered among a lot of different threads.

I'll start out by posting photos of my various ancient Greek vases.

An Attic black-figure lekythos from ca. 525-500 BCE, four warriors in combat; on shoulder, two hounds facing each other. 4" H x 2" W at widest part. Purchased 03/15/1986, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC:






Another Attic Black-figure Lekythos, ca. 525-500 BCE, pygmies hunting rooster (or rooster hunting pygmies), 3 1/2" (8.9 cm) high, purchased 12.17.2019, Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, NYC:

An Athenian horse departing for parts unknown with its rider and his attendants in about 525-500 BCE, as shown on this Attic black-figure lekythos (4 1/4", 10.8 cm. high), manufactured for export in the Kerameikos (pottery) district, Athens. Purchased 12.17.2019, Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, NYC.












Note the hound chasing a hare on the shoulder, putting the vase in the Hound and Hare Group of Attic lekythoi. See https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG58829, explaining that the term refers to "a group of Athenian black-figure vase-painters whose names are unknown who produced vases with a similar style of drawing (mostly lekythoi). Beazley (following Haspels ABL) named them the Hound and Hare group because of the unusual subject (a hound pursuing a hare) decorating the shoulder. A few vases have been attributed to this group on the basis of style." For lekythoi like this one, the Hound and Hare Group is usually considered a subset of the Little Lion Class because of its shape, and the general presence of animals on the shoulder: see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG59217.

The three Attic lekythoi together:

Corinthian aryballos, ca. 600 BCE, rooster and swan, 62 mm. H x 56 mm. W at widest point, purchased 12/16/2019, Ancient & Oriental (antiquities.co.uk, Christopher Martin):





A miniature Apulian net lekythos, with a second photo giving an idea of its size, purchased at Royal Athena, NYC.

South Italy, Apulian red-figure stemless cup with two handles; on either side of body, female head (Lady of Fashion), wearing sakkos [cloth hair covering], with large flower, stephane, earrings, necklace; ca. 350-325 BCE. 2 ½” (64 mm.) H x 3 ¾” (95 mm.) D x 5 ¾” (146 mm) W. Purchased 3/6/1993, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC.





 

An Apulian (South Italian) net lekythos, purchased from Harmer Rooke, NYC, 02.06.1982. 2 3/4" high.

Edited August 15 by DonnaML

[DonnaML]

Switching briefly to Rome, here are some photos of my small ancient Roman bronze eagle, which is approximately 45 mm. (1 4/5") high. Purchased 12/23/2019, Medusa Ancient Art, Montreal, CA:

Much more to come over time: I have between 50 and 60 different artifacts accumulated in the last 40 years, and I am fairly certain that I have photos of all of them.

[ominus1]

..beautiful items Donna!...i love those vases/amphora....i don't have an one ancient pot  to P in or a ancient glass to throw it out of..:P

[Octavius]

All so beautiful @DonnaML ! I'm glad you posted a site for antiquities. They go together with coins like peanut butter and jelly.

I hope you post your Roman glass as well, especially that mesmerizing blue-purple one. I don't know how many times I went on the old thread at "the other site" to just stare at it.

I'm especially happy today because I just received this from the CNG 120 auction!

 

Terracotta grayware bucchero kyathos Etruscan archaic period, 575 - 490 BCE.

 

[CPK]

Such beautiful artifacts @DonnaML! Thank you for posting!

I especially like the bronze eagle. Do you know what its purpose was? Was it just a decorative piece, or is there some other religious/ceremonial significance?

Edited June 3, 2022 by CPK

[Ryro]

I don't recall seeing the Roman eagle before @DonnaML, but LOVE IT!!!

I'll pile on with my teeny tiny Bes pen (tastes like curses) and first scarab:

 

[DonnaML]

1 hour ago, CPK said:

Such beautiful artifacts @DonnaML! Thank you for posting!

I especially like the bronze eagle. Do you know what its purpose was? Was it just a decorative piece, or is there some other religious/ceremonial significance?

You're welcome.  Given that the eagle (dated to approximately the 2nd century AD) is only 4.5 cm. high and is solid bronze -- rather than hollow or having a hole at the bottom to fit on something -- I very much doubt that it was meant to go on the top of a standard or anything similar. The dealer referred me to the book  by A. Kozloff, Animals in Ancient Art, for the discussion of a somewhat smaller silver eagle from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, no. 193, as suggesting some possibilities, including that it may have been part of a larger statuary figure:

[DonnaML]

2 hours ago, Octavius said:

I hope you post your Roman glass as well, especially that mesmerizing blue-purple one. I don't know how many times I went on the old thread at "the other site" to just stare at it.

I'm especially happy today because I just received this from the CNG 120 auction!

 

Terracotta grayware bucchero kyathos Etruscan archaic period, 575 - 490 BCE.

 

I love your Etruscan vase, @Octavius!

Ask and ye shall receive, although this will probably be the last artifact I post for now, or I'd be here all weekend!

This is what I said about that vase at the other place:

I've wanted an iridescent Roman glass vase ever since I first saw one more than 40 years ago, and this one very much appealed to me. It has different colors under different lighting, and when I stare at it long enough I see the night sky.

Dealer's description: Roman, 1st Century AD, blue/purple glass vase with wide folded rim and piriform [pear-shaped] body; surface has areas of vivid violet and blue iridescence. 12.4 cm high, 5.7 cm wide. Purchased Jan. 2021 from Helios Gallery, UK. Ex. Collection of Eric Moussel (1953-2019), Nogent-sur-Marne, France, acquired in Paris.

Dealer's photos:







With my own camera, even though I can see the violet/purple with my eyes in certain light at certain angles, I couldn't capture it in photos. Instead, it looks more dark blue, but that's accurate as well depending on the lighting. I hope you can see why I think it looks like the night sky:












 

Although I've since moved it, here's what it looked like originally where I kept it in my living room with some other antiquities:

It is certainly the most colorful and beautiful of the several ancient Roman vases I own, and one of my favorite artifacts overall.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by DonnaML

[jfp7375]

Damn @DonnaML this is some really incredible stuff. Museum grade (to my untrained eye at least... but really!) 

It would be a dream to own a collection like this when I'm older and have more money. Just graduating with my MBA this year so the ol' net worth is a bit thin at the moment... this stuff must be quite expensive I'd imagine. 

[DonnaML]

23 minutes ago, jfp7375 said:

Damn @DonnaML this is some really incredible stuff. Museum grade (to my untrained eye at least... but really!) 

It would be a dream to own a collection like this when I'm older and have more money. Just graduating with my MBA this year so the ol' net worth is a bit thin at the moment... this stuff must be quite expensive I'd imagine. 

Thanks, jfp. I'm not going to get too specific, but remember that I started buying antiquities 40+ years ago, when I was 25 and had just graduated from law school. Prices have definitely risen since then, although not as much as one might think for smaller objects. For example, of the three similar small Attic black-figure lekythoi I posted, I bought the first one from a well-known NYC gallery in 1986 for about $800. I bought the other two as a pair a couple of years ago from another NYC gallery, for the combined discounted price of $4,500.  So, the amount I spent per vase tripled, perhaps, over several decades.  In any event, it's still possible to buy genuine antiquities from reputable dealers for a few hundred dollars, especially small objects. Obviously, one can spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, so when you get that partnership at Goldman Sachs, you can really go to town! In all seriousness, almost everything I've ever bought probably falls in the "a few hundred" to "a couple of thousand" range. I'm hardly a high roller, and I've never bought anything that's more than about 5-6 inches tall. So, no giant vases where I can keep wet umbrellas!  

Edited June 3, 2022 by DonnaML

[Kamnaskires]

To quote Ritchie Valens: Oh, Donna!  There are so many interesting and informative threads across the sub-forums of this fun new site, but I think this one is shaping up to be my fave. I look forward to your updates. The initial group above is wonderful. The lekythoi trio is particularly impressive, as is the cup. (Too short a base to qualify as a kylix?)

[DonnaML]

34 minutes ago, Kamnaskires said:

To quote Ritchie Valens: Oh, Donna!  There are so many interesting and informative threads across the sub-forums of this fun new site, but I think this one is shaping up to be my fave. I look forward to your updates. The initial group above is wonderful. The lekythoi trio is particularly impressive, as is the cup. (Too short a base to qualify as a kylix?)

Thank you. I hope you're not disappointed by the remaining artifacts! If you mean the Apulian "Lady of Fashion" cup, the stem is definitely too short for it to be a kylix. Wikipedia has a very useful "typology" of the names for the different shapes, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typology_of_Greek_vase_shapes , illustrated with photographs of each type. I'm not sure what the technical name would be, if any, for my cup. My three lekythoi clearly qualify as "shoulder lekythoi" if you scroll down to that type. As you may know, most small lekythoi of that type were used for oil or perfume, and many were found in tombs, often outside Greece itself: they were manufactured for export in the Athens pottery district, and were particularly popular among the Etruscans. The only one of the three with a specific known provenance is the "Hound and Hare" type with the departing soldier, which was excavated in Sicily in the 1940s and has been in the USA since then. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by DonnaML

[Octavius]

 Stunningly beautiful @DonnaML; keep them coming!

 

Here is a recent acquisition -  Egyptian jug from an intermediate period @ 1000 BCE.... from Den of Antiquity, England....

 

 

several scattered Roman pottery -  jugs , red ware, mortarium, lamps (and hunk of dinosaur bone) lying haphazardly in my study...

 

 

 

[DonnaML]

Beautiful! I love all the bookcases too. But you must not have a cat to leave everything out like that.

[JeandAcre]

All of this stuff is blowing me away, regardless of how much of it I've seen before elsewhere.  But I'm really loving @DonnaML's and @Octavius' shots of it in situ.  Donna, I can't imagine how you find the space in an apartment to display this in the amazing way you do.  Octavius, it's like, artifacts and books (never mind bookcases that are that impressive in their own right).  I'm saying, --Yesssss!!!  ...Or even, 'quoting' Joyce from memory, 'And Yes I said Yes I said Yes.'

[Octavius]

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

Beautiful! I love all the bookcases too. But you must not have a cat to leave everything out like that.

 Actually @DonnaML I have two!  The secret is keep the door shut at all times!!

 

 

NOT FOR SALE

[Agricantus]

Kol HaKavod, @DonnaML fantastic artifact collection!

[antwerpen2306]

beautiful. I am collecting antiquities for more than 50 years, in the good times everything was 'cheap', because now... I've quickly some îctures of the greatest part of my collection and I show also my oldest piece from the Halaf culture ( 6000-5100 BC). It is typical for this culture with little images with black lines; As fertility goddess, also freqent in this times long ago. albert

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DonnaML]

Wonderful, @antwerpen2306! I love the way you display them.

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by DonnaML

[antwerpen2306]

sorry, I made a mistake, I don't know when or how. Here some photos of my oldest object; albert

 

[Spaniard]

@antwerpen2306...Nice piece, obviously female but from where and when?

[Spaniard]

@DonnaML....Wow!...You do have some beautiful pieces!...The colouring of the glass vase is quite exquisite!......

[antwerpen2306]

tell halaf culture, about 5000 bc. albert

[Etcherdude]

2 hours ago, Spaniard said:

@antwerpen2306...Nice piece, obviously female but from where and when?

But oddly phallic

[DonnaML]

To follow up on the bronze eagle, here are a few more Roman (including Roman Provincial) bronze artifacts.

Roman Provincial bronze horse, Thrace/Moesia Inferior, 1st-2nd century AD [expert opinion of R. Hixenbaugh on place of origin], right foreleg raised, band of three lines incised around neck, missing rider.  50 mm. H., 48 mm. L. Purchased 12/19/2007, Artemission, London, UK. 

Roman bronze cockerel with integral base, 2nd-3rd century AD, 50.8 mm. H (including 12.7 mm. integral base), 47.6 mm. L.  Purchased 12/19/2007, Artemission, London, UK.  

Roman cast bronze figure of Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger), 2nd-3rd century AD, 60 mm. H, with detailed bearded face, military garb, crested helmet, cuirass, greaves (spear & dagger lost in antiquity), red & olive patina. Purchased 12/18/2007, Zeus Antiquities, Beverly Hills, CA. Ex CNG Sale 75, 5/23/2007, Lot 1514, ex "Private East Coast Property."

Roman bronze foot broken off from statue, 100-300 AD, 38.1 mm. L, purchased 03/01/1991, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC.

Finally, not bronze, but still Roman: Terracotta oil lamp, geometric pattern decoration, signs of use/burning at opening, 3rd-4th centuries AD, Roman North Africa. 15.24 cm. (6") L. Purchased August 2002, Coincraft, London.

More Greek & Roman terracotta & other artifacts to come. Eventually, I'll turn to all my Egyptian artifacts, and my handful of Near Eastern artifacts.

Edited June 4, 2022 by DonnaML