Tuesday's antiquities sale at Sotheby’s proved a tremendous success with 85% of the 157 lots sold for a total of $4.58-million. This represented an average sell price per lot of an astounding $34,467!! As jaw-dropping as the auction was, it proved more than simlpy that the antiquities market continues to be red hot for well provenanced antiquities. The subtext for the sale proved that a keen eye and good research can bring new surprises to old objects.
In an extraordinary achievement in scholarship, an ancient Roman Figure of Aphrodite was reunited with her Head after the two elements had been separated for at least 50 years. The figure was purchased at Tuesday's auction for $968,000 by the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Immediately following the fall of the hammer, the Museum also purchased the head by private sale. This remarkable achievement was made possible by extensive research done by Sotheby’s Antiquities experts. Today’s auction totalled $4,584,172, above a high estimate of $4.1 million.
Richard M. Keresey, Worldwide Director of Sotheby’s Antiquities Department commented, “This is a great moment for the world of Antiquities and one we will always remember. Because of my colleague Florent Heintz’s research skills astonishing visual memory, Aphrodite has regained not only her head, but also her history. We are particularly thrilled that this outstanding piece, in her entirety, will be on view to the public at such a wonderful institution.”
Jasper Gaunt, Curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, said, “This is an incredibly exciting moment for our institution. We are actively building a collection of Ancient Art of peerless quality and this piece is without question the finest Aphrodite in the United States. The opportunity to own a piece of this importance in its entirety was irresistible and she will assume a position of prominence in our collection. We are grateful that Sotheby’s was able to assist in consummating a private sale of the figure’s head.”
Nearly three months ago, Mrs. Lawrence Copley Thaw, Sr. of New York, consigned a Marble Figure of Aphrodite, Roman Imperial, dating to circa late 1st century/early 2nd Century A.D., to Sotheby’s June 2006 sale of Antiquities. As is not uncommon with Antiquities, the figure was missing elements, in this case, her head and one arm. After in-depth research, Sotheby’s experts discovered an engraving of the complete figure, published in 1836 when it was part of a private collection in Paris. The rendering of the head in the engraving immediately struck Mr. Heintz as familiar; he remembered that Sotheby's had sold a similar head on December 11, 2002 (lot 12), possibly the one belonging to Mrs. Thaw’s headless figure.
Sotheby’s then contacted the private collector from Houston, Texas who had purchased the head in 2002; and she graciously offered to bring it to New York to see if Mr. Heintz’s theory proved correct. When the head arrived in New York, Mr. Keresey and Mr. Heintz realized that, based on the dimensions of the neck, grain of the marble, weathering of both pieces, style of carving, tilt and turn of the head, combined with the existence of the engraving, the head did in fact belong with the body. The owner of the head then agreed to make the piece available for private sale exclusively to the successful purchaser of the body in today’s auction.
The method of sale is not reaenlvt. As long as you qualify on all counts (not buying from a relative, 1st time homebuyer for all parties, etc.), and the IRS accepts a mobile home as a residence (which it has in the past), then you are fine.Just as a warning, the tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price of the home or $8,000, whichever is less, so if the mobile home is, say, $25,000, you will only get $2,500.
Posted by: Shashi | April 28, 2012 at 02:14 AM