A thread for my antiquities

[Spaniard]

@DonnaML.....Super pieces...

I like them all but the little oil lamp "Wow"....It's an area that I'm very interested in but haven't purchased yet....It seems that fibulii, oil lamps and arrow heads are my limit when it comes to budget...Looking forward to seeing your next post..

[DonnaML]

One more for now. 

Ancient Greek gold [oak?] leaf, once part of wreath, ca. 4th-3rd centuries BCE, 58 mm. H. Purchased 01/17/2007 from Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, NYC [purchased at 2007 NYINC].

My only ancient artifact or coin that I've left in its case since I bought it, and have never actually touched. It's so delicate that I would be afraid of ruining it!

Edited June 4, 2022 by DonnaML

[Spaniard]

28 minutes ago, Etcherdude said:

But oddly phallic

Ufff....I'm not going to go there as I upset Donna once in this area with my very dry sense of humour...I apologised and she accepted but still an area I'll stay well clear of...😇😁

[DonnaML]

4 minutes ago, Spaniard said:

Ufff....I'm not going to go there as I upset Donna once in this area with my very dry sense of humour...I apologised and she accepted but still an area I'll stay well clear of...😇😁

No worries, @Etcherdude. Not my artifact!

[DonnaML]

More Roman glass. Not as colorful as the blue-purple vase, but still quite nice:

Roman, pale blue glass vessel w/squat body & broad neck, inside covered in silver-colored iridescence, ca. 5th Cent. AD. 65 mm H, 48 mm W (at widest point). Purchased 01/08/2018, Helios Gallery, Wiltshire, UK.

More terracotta/pottery:

Hellenistic molded Pottery Mask of Silenos (an attendant of Bacchus/Dionysos, usually depicted as elderly), ca. 3rd century BCE, grapevines in hair, traces of original black and white pigment. 5" H. Purchased from Artemis Gallery, Colorado USA, May 31, 2011; ex. Collection of Harvey Sarner, Palm Springs, CA (1934-2007), acquired 1984*:



*See this link to descriptions of the 13 antiquities in the Getty Museum collection acquired from Harvey Sarner: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/search/?view=grid&query=YToxOntzOjEzOiJwcm92ZW5hbmNlLmlkIjthOjE6e2k6MDtpOjM5MDg7fX0= .

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by DonnaML

[antwerpen2306]

 very nice pieces, I prefer the horse. Are you sure the rider is missing ? I am waiting to see more artifacts and also the Egyptian and Near Eastern. albert

17 hours ago, DonnaML said:

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.

 

[DonnaML]

30 minutes ago, antwerpen2306 said:

 very nice pieces, I prefer the horse. Are you sure the rider is missing ? I am waiting to see more artifacts and also the Egyptian and Near Eastern. albert

 

Of course nothing is certain, but Randy Hixenbaugh, the expert who examined and appraised my antiquities collection for me, and identified the horse as likely originating in Thrace or Moesia Inferior, told me that bronze horses like this were usually made with a separate rider sitting on them.

[DonnaML]

More terracotta.

Greece, 4th Century BCE. Terracotta "Tanagra" head [reference is to Tanagra, Boeotia] of young woman. 39 mm. high (plus peg is an additional 16 mm.), 32 mm. from front to back of head. Purchased 1998, Arnold Saslow, NJ.

Greece, 4th/3rd Century BCE, Terracotta head of young woman with long neck and with elaborate coiffure, wearing stephane[?]. 3" high. Purchased 2018. Ex. Christie's (date unknown).






 

Greece, 5th-4th Century BCE, terracotta head of old man (comic/grotesque), 32 mm. high, 38 mm. from front to back of head. Purchased 1998, Arnold Saslow, NJ.*






 

* Grotesque terracotta figures like mine, often portraying old men, were very popular in Ancient Greece, especially in the Hellenistic period, and have been variously interpreted as being inspired by comic figures on the stage, and/or as having apotropaic functions, and/or as being purely decorative. See the many photographs of such figures in the dissertation entitled "Hellenistic grotesque terracotta figurines, Problems of iconographical interpretation," at https://www.researchgate.net/public...Problems-of-iconographical-interpretation.pdf. See also this discussion, accompanied by many photos, at https://journals.openedition.org/acost/945, of "Grotesque terracotta figurines and their uses." arguing for the apotropaic interpretation:

"As we will see, by utilizing an ugly, non-canonical form, many objects could have an apotropaic function. From the fourth century B.C.E onwards, small-scale sculpture developed a rich repertoire of ridiculous and grotesque types that set a trajectory different from public and conspicuously visible art. The so-called grotesques were an enhancement of the Hellenistic interest in the human body and its weakness and imperfections by depicting ill and deformed individuals. Their variety ranges from representations of clinically diagnosable deformities to exaggerated physical abnormalities (fig. 4).24 According to Giuliani, bronze and terracotta figurines of this kind were life-like representations of beggars and others who gathered at big feasts in temples or at the houses of the wealthy. In the latter case, they indicated the importance and wealth of the host because the more beggars attracted to an event the greater the fortune of the event organizer. By implication, the bronze and terracotta portraits of these marginal people could have become symbols and charms of good luck that would have been placed in private houses.

Many grotesque representations, however, did not arise from the Hellenistic world of feasts and symposia and depict different sorts of deformities, as the example at hand demonstrates.26 Terracotta figurines developed differently because of their suitability and openness to non-canonical forms, but much also has to do with their use. Some of the Hellenistic or Greco-Roman figurines have a loop on their back that indicates that they were to be suspended or worn as an amulet.27 These types of objects are described by ancient sources as a baskanion, or charm.28 Pollux29 says that the term was used for ridiculous figurines (geloia tina), made by blacksmiths and served to turn away envy (epi phthonou apotrope) – note that he uses the word apotropein to describe their function. These figurines, according to Phrynichos,30 were also suspended by the artisans themselves to protect their own work. Furthermore, we read in the Vita Aesopi that the deformed Aesop was considered a baskanion by the other slaves, who thought their master had bought him for that purpose.31 Fear of the evil eye, according to Plutarch, seems to have been the most common impetus for the use of this kind of apotropaion: “When those possessed by envy (phthonos) to this degree let their glance fall upon a person, their eyes, which are close to the mind and draw from it the evil influence and passion, then assail that person as if with poisoned arrows; hence, I conclude, it is not paradoxical or incredible that they should have an effect on the persons who encounter their gaze… What I have said shows why the so-called amulets (probaskania) are thought to be a protection against malice. The strange look of them (atopia) attracts the gaze, so that it exerts less pressure upon its victim.”32 Varro also mentions the connection between the ugly (turpicula), and the unfavorable (scaevus), but those meanings can change to favorable, he says, when the object is used as an amulet."

[DonnaML]

And my most recent Greco-Roman terracotta/pottery figurine, with the description based on the dealer's:

 

Very fine Roman molded pottery (terracotta) portrait bust of a lady with hair in horizontal waves and chignon, possibly Faustina II or another empress, mid- to late-2nd Century AD, acquired 1890-1920 in Sousse, Tunisia (formerly Hadrumetum, Roman Africa; location of Sousse Archaeological Museum, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousse_Archaeological_Museum). 16 cm. x 9.5 cm. Repaired on neck, light chipping, tip of nose missing, otherwise intact. Red/brown/ochre terracotta color with remaining traces of white indicating, according to dealer, that the surface "received a second layer of fine-finishing during ancient production by applying a thin slip of white plaster/stucco which could be smoothed over the surface of the fired clay to conceal small firing cracks and so forth. The bust may then have been painted over with decoration or simply an even terracotta coloured wash, but this very rarely survives and so it's fairly impossible to ascertain" intended color. Purchased from Helios Gallery, Lower Kingsdown, Wiltshire, UK, Dec. 2021. Ex. Archaeology Auction 6 Mars, 2021, Lot 26, Hôtel des Ventes du Léman, Maître Albert Holtz, Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, France; ex. Family Dumas Collection, Haute-Savoie, France; ex. Collection of Marius-Victor-Ernest Dumas (b. 1 Jun. 1865, Corps, Département de l'Isère, France, d. after 1920), contrôleur civil à Sousse (Tunisie), ca. 1890-1920 [after Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881], Chevalier du 12 avril 1903 (see MÉRITE AGRICOLE, Journal officiel de la république française, 22 octobre 1910, p. 8677.).

Dealer's photos:













My photos, from as many angles as possible:

 

See the many comments on the possible identity of this lady (or empress) in the thread at CT, at https://www.cointalk.com/threads/terracotta-portrait-bust-of-a-roman-lady-2nd-cent-ad-is-she-an-empress.390919/
 

 

Last

Edited June 5, 2022 by DonnaML

[Octavius]

 

Mesopotamian Neo-Sumerian cuneiform clay tablet ,  C. 2041 BCE, Third dynasty of Ur.

 

 

Roman lamp, C. 1st century, depicting baby calf with its mother.

 

 

Roman marble head of a youth, c. 2nd - 3rd century AD, from British collection.

 

 

Roman lamp from Antonine period , c. 175 - 200 AD depicting bull about to gore a condemned prisoner in the circus. two other bound condemned prisoners top and bottom either dead or about to become so.

 

 

Terra sigillata Roman jug with lion , or bear mauling unfortunate person's face in circus. c. 2nd - 3rd century AD.

 

 

Roman spear from site in Britain , Legio II Augusta I believe, dated to @ 60 - 120 AD, used by Roman auxiliary troops fighting the Iceni.

[DonnaML]

Egypt next.

[DonnaML]

9 hours ago, Octavius said:

 

Mesopotamian Neo-Sumerian cuneiform clay tablet ,  C. 2041 BCE, Third dynasty of Ur.

 

 

Roman lamp, C. 1st century, depicting baby calf with its mother.

 

 

Roman marble head of a youth, c. 2nd - 3rd century AD, from British collection.

 

 

Roman lamp from Antonine period , c. 175 - 200 AD depicting bull about to gore a condemned prisoner in the circus. two other bound condemned prisoners top and bottom either dead or about to become so.

 

 

Terra sigillata Roman jug with lion , or bear mauling unfortunate person's face in circus. c. 2nd - 3rd century AD.

 

 

Roman spear from site in Britain , Legio II Augusta I believe, dated to @ 60 - 120 AD, used by Roman auxiliary troops fighting the Iceni.

All beautiful! I especially love the oil lamps and the sigillata jug. The marble head is amazing too. Congratulations!

[DonnaML]

Some ancient Egyptian ushabtis, with a couple of other Egyptian artifacts.

This ushabti has no inscription, and its body is quite worn, but it has always very much appealed to me because of the amazing detail of its face and beard. (Before I bought it, a photo of it was actually used by the dealer in its Yellow Pages listing, back when such things as Yellow Pages still existed!)

Egypt, 26th (Saite) Dynasty (664–525 BCE), blue-green faience Ushabti, 4 1/4" high. Glaze worn in some areas, Osiris type, figure holds crook & flail symbols of authority and wears tripartite wig & bears, symbols of royalty; bag slung over left shoulder. Purchased from Harmer, Rooke Numismatists, Ltd., New York City, Nov. 8, 1982.

Inside the bell jar where I keep it:
 

Another photo:

A closeup, with a limestone Sekhmet.

Egypt, Partial limestone bust of lion-headed goddrss (Sekhmet), broken at shoulders, traces of polychrome coloring remaining, 22nd-23rd Dynasty, ca. 945-715 BCE, 6.6 cm. H, 5.8 cm. Deep, 7 cm. W. Purchased 12/01/2009, Artemission, UK.

The ushabti on the left in the photo below does have an inscription; here are a few photos of it (mostly together with a bronze Osiris figure) in which you can see the inscription.

Egypt, pale green faience ushabti of General Hor-em-achbit, holds crook & flail and wears tripartite wig & royal beard, single panel of hieroglyphics down the front pillar, bag slung over left shoulder, 30th Dynasty, ca. 380-343 BCE. Translation of inscription: "The illuminated one, the Osiris, the overseer of the army [general], Hor-em-achbit, born to Hathor-em-achet [his mother], true of voice. Meaning of name Hor-em-achbit ("Horus is in Khemmis") (also Harachbit, Hor-ach-bit): It is the name of Horus in his appearance as a child growing up on the floating island of Khemmis (a/k/a Chemmis), documented as a deity since the New Kingdom. See de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Harachbit. 5" H. Purchased 4/11/1986, Arnold Saslow, Rare Coins & Classical Arts, Ltd., South Orange, NJ.

Egypt, Bronze figure of Osiris, holding crook & flail and wearing the Atef crown (white crown of Upper Egypt between two ostrich feathers) with uraeus serpent in front and royal beard. 26th Dynasty, ca. 663-525 BCE. 4 3/4" H. Purchased 1/27/1986, Harmer Rooke, NYC.

 

The two ushabtis and the bronze Osiris together.

I had no idea what the inscription on the larger ushabti said until five years ago or so, when I posted a photo of it on an old yahoo email group I used to belong to. I then received an email from Niek de Haan (of the website http://www.shabticollections.com), very kindly informing me that he recognized the smile on my ushabti, and that it's apparently one of a number of very similar ushabtis all created for the same person in the 30th Dynasty. An example is the one illustrated in the 1990 book entitled Ägyptische Totenfiguren aus öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen der Schweiz, by Hermann A. Schlögl and Andreas Brodbeck (Freiburg 1990). It's object number 191 on page 274. (See this copy of page 274, plus an enlargement of one of the photos on that page, both of which Mr. de Haan sent me.)

My third, smaller, ushabti, made of glazed blue faience. The feet were broken off at some point and glued back on.

Egypt, faience ushabti, blue-turquoise color glazed Osirid-type figure, uninscribed, holding crook & flail and wearing tripartite wig & royal beard, bag slung over left shoulder; repaired break at ankles. 30th Dynasty, ca. 378-341 BCE. 3 3/8" H. Purchased 3/29/1986, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC.

 

It isn't unusual for an ushabti never to have been inscribed. By the New Kingdom there were as many 401 ushabtis in each tomb (theoretically, 365 workers and 36 overseers, although the latter disappeared eventually). Accordingly, it's my understanding that the majority were always uninscribed. (Sometimes, forgers take genuine uninscribed ushabtis and apply fake hieroglyphic inscriptions -- often nonsensical, I believe -- to make them more valuable.) Also by the New Kingdom, mass production using molds was already common. See the summary of the history of ushabtis at https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/shabti/. (Which is why my inscribed ushabti of the general Hor-em-achbit is so similar to several others I've seen.) I also own a small paperback book published in the UK in 1995, by Harry M. Stewart, called "Egyptian Ushabtis." (Even more useful and interesting, with many color photographs, is a 1994 paperback book called "Amulets of Ancient Egypt" by Carol Andrews, a curator at the British Museum.) 

More Egyptian artifacts to come soon.

Edited June 7, 2022 by DonnaML

[CPK]

On 6/3/2022 at 5:32 PM, Octavius said:

 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...

 

 

 

Now, that is my kind of room! 

[DonnaML]

Another Egyptian bronze artifact:

Egypt, Bronze Horus falcon - standing falcon on integral base, with wings folded, wearing crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, 26th Dynasty, ca. 663-525 BCE. 2 1/8” H x 2 1/8” L x 3/4” Deep (measurements include integral base). Purchased
1/27/1986, Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd., NYC:

[airhead1983]

Donna,

Your antiquities collection never ceases to amaze me!  Thanks so much for sharing!

Erin

[DonnaML]

This artifact was originally sold to me as ancient Roman, but the expert who appraised my collection a couple of years ago properly identified it for me:

Ancient Egyptian bronze Schilbe fish, intended as crown attachment of Delta fish-goddess Hatmehyt, with fins and scales detailed, Late Dynastic Period, ca. 700-300 BCE. 77 mm. L. Purchased 12/01/2009, Artemission, London, UK.

Example at Metropolitan Museum of Art, with caption "Schilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt":

Illustration of Schilbe fish as crown attachment for Hatmehyt:

Edited June 8, 2022 by DonnaML

[DonnaML]

We interrupt this program for a brief return to terracotta, and the Hellenistic world:

Egypt (Ptolemaic or Roman), terracotta head of a boy, 2nd-1st Century BCE, 60 mm H, purchased 01/31/1991, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC, ex Collection of Arthur Silver, Los Angeles, CA.

Hellenistic terracotta roundel of winged female deity, ca. 3rd-2nd Century BCE, 70 mm. diameter, purchased 03/01/1991, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC.

Edited June 7, 2022 by DonnaML

[DonnaML]

I really don't want to post photos of all my antiquities so quickly that I run out of them almost immediately, but here's one more.

Egypt, glazed blue faience amulet of reclining lion on integral base, suspension loop on back (loop restored), 26th Dynasty, ca. 664-525 BCE. 1 7/8" (47.6 mm.) L.  Purchased 3/1/1991, Royal Athena Galleries, NYC. Published: Royal Athena Galleries, "The Age of Cleopatra" exhibition catalog, Oct. 1988, p. 24 No. 119.

Here is the cover page of the exhibition catalog in which my lion was published, together with the interior page on which the lion is pictured on the far right in the top row, No. 119:

[Octavius]

 Roman lamp, c 1st century CE, gladiator, ? retiarius.

 

 

Columbarium plaque of deceased male , Tiberius Claudius Faustus who evidently died at age 30. ( VIXIT ANNOS XXX).

 

 

Roman lamp c. 2nd century depicting one of the four winds....

 

 

1st century Roman lamp with boxers fighting each other....

 

 

 

 

[thenickelguy]

On 6/5/2022 at 10:41 PM, DonnaML said:

Egypt next.

Don't know why but Eqypt is my favorite old world. This thread is fascinating.

 

 

[thenickelguy]

On 6/7/2022 at 1:20 PM, DonnaML said:

Bronze Horus falcon

The stuff that dreams are made of.

[NewStyleKing]

Great antiquities Donna ML, My last one came from  ZURQIEH. The shabti is named , a priest and his mothers name 

[NewStyleKing]

Great antiquities Donna ML, My last one came from  ZURQIEH. The shabti is named , a priest and his mothers name 

[antwerpen2306]

xviii-xix dynasty, funerary stele for Raya, superintendant of the necropoles at Thebes. His name is the middle, just above his head. His wife Our.... is behind him. albert