Egyptian Masterpieces from Harer Family Trust Soar as Collectors Compete in New York Auction

While much of New York City and the Northeast was digging out from up to a foot of snow on Friday, December 10, a hardy contingent of dealers, museums and agents made their way to the Christies auction room in Rockefeller Center where they were digging deep into their pockets for a selection of fabulous ancient Egyptian artifacts from the Harer Family Trust Collection of California.

Dr. Benson Harer, a true gentleman and a friend of Fragments of Time, parted with more than three dozen masterpieces which were keenly fought over by attendees and phone bidders.

The star, and cover piece to the hardbound auction catalogue, was a truly magnificent Egyptian black granite standard-bearing statue of Queen Nefertari dating to the Reign of Ramesses II, 1290-1224 BC. The 37-inch work of stone art was hammered down at $2.256M.

Impressively, as predicted by Fragments of Time one of the sleepers of the sale was a spectacular Egyptian limestone New Kingdom shabti, 1307-1196 BC which had previously been on the market for considerably less in the late 1970s. The beautifully modeled 10.8-inch shabti carried an estimate of $20,000-$30,000, but was hammered down for a very strong $174,000!

Of the 42 lots, 24 sold (81%) for more than $3.5-million. Proof that quality objects and excellent provenance remain scarce and keenly sought after by today's antiquities collecting community. 

Comments

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