Greek, Roman, Egyptian & Other Antiquities

Metal-detecting finds often prove valuable both in terms of heritage and a healthy sum at auction.

On the market for the first time in over half a century, a Roman marble copy of the Crouching Venus hammered at $130,000 (£103,000) in the Freeman’s Hindman (27/21/15% buyer’s premium) auction on May 23.

Gallery builds on enduring interest for original items from the ancient world (3000BC-600AD).

Found by a mudlark along the Thames in the early 2000s, these three well-preserved 1st-2nd century leather shoes would have once protected the feet of Roman children in Londinium.

A gold and cameo ring offered with an estimate of just £200-300 at Derbyshire auction house Irita Marriott (plus 28.8% buyer’s premium inc VAT) and catalogued as 19th century caught the eye of a number of jewellery dealers and bidders from as far as Paris and the US.

Sir John Boardman OBE FBA Hon RA, Emeritus Lincoln Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of the Magdalene College Cambridge for 40 years, was not just the pre-eminent scholar of Archaeology and Ancient Greece, he also proved to be a remarkable friend to the antiquities trade and collecting.

A highlight of Apollo Art Auctions’ (20% buyer’s premium) April 27-28 sale was a trio of Egyptian sandstone reliefs from the Amarna period, the 17-year reign of the radical pharaoh Amenhotep IV known as Akhenaten.

Among the highlights of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) Fine Interiors sale was a collection of antiquities formed by the late Sir Clinton Charles Donald Cory (1937-2022), 5th Baronet of Coryton.

“It had”, said the metal detectorist who found it, “been a wonderful Christmas present.”

Antiquities specialists Charles Ede of London and Contemporary New York gallery Sean Kelly share a stand at TEFAF Maastricht’s inaugural Focus section, which is aimed at presenting complementary works from different artists and disciplines.