Greek, Roman, Egyptian & Other Antiquities

Among the top-estimated lots at the Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) sale of African & Oceanic Art, Antiquities and Natural History in Edinburgh on May 5 was a hammered bronze Apulo-Corinthian helmet from southern Italy, c.350-500BC.

Offering a range of antiquities, Old Masters, 19th century art, sculpture, books and manuscripts, Christie’s ‘Classic Week’ of sales in New York will take place as a series of seven online auctions next month.

A group of smuggled Mesopotamian ‘antiquities’ destined for collectors in the UK was discovered to be fake and seized by Border Force.

Dealers might not be on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis but many are trying to do their bit through charity sales. Here is a quick look at some of the businesses pledging proceeds to good causes.

A project led by the British Museum (BM) to combat the trade in looted antiquities from Egypt and Sudan has launched an online database where objects with ‘provenance issues’ can be brought to the attention of museum specialists and academics.

One of the strongest performers in a large, mixed-discipline online-only sale held by Cottone ( 18% buyer’s premium) in Geneseo, New York, was this classical marble statue of a young boy on a carved stone plinth which had the bonus of a late-19th century provenance.

Contents of Palladian home in County Durham provide showpiece auction in Newbury

With Storm Ciara getting under way (in pre-coronavirus days…) it was not, perhaps, the ideal time to launch the new weekend sales at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium).

This finely modelled Hellenistic white marble figure of Aphrodite sold for £60,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) at Dominic Winter in South Cerney on March 5. Bidding opened at £30,000, twice the low estimate, before bids were exchanged between the internet and the phones.

A sculpture that had previously been owned by Stanley Seeger’s personal assistant at Sutton Place set a house record at Adam Partridge.