Despite the economy, savvy collectors continue to buy quality objects with an odd mix of conviction and caution.
At Tuesday's morning sale of Antiquities and afternoon session of Ancient Jewelry, Christies hammered down a total of $4.7-million. The total was respectable despite the fact that several significant items, including a superb early Christian silver paten circa 4th-5th Century AD, estimated at $600-800k) failed to find a buyer. Of the more than 300 lots offered, more than 63% sold.
Sotheby's sale the following day achieved a spectacular $8.9M in sales (including buyer's premium) with a very strong 81% of lots selling. Three lots were hammered down for more than $1-million each, including a 13.8" Egyptian greywache figure of a man from the Late 26th/30th Dynasty which was the top lot at $1,650,500 against a $600-900K estimate. The other two lots topping a million dollars were an 18th Dynasty Egyptian limestone figure of a princess from the reign of Akhenaten ($1,082,500) and a superb 18.5" marble Cycladic statue of a goddess circa 2500-2400 BC ($1,022,500).
Richard M. Keresey and Florent Heintz, experts in charge of the sale said, “We were very gratified with the results of today’s sale. Rare objects of great quality and with good provenance sold extremely well, as well in fact as they did in our June sale. The overall total of $8.9 million was nearly
The two December auctions bring the total of antiquities sold between the two firms in 2008 to more than $28-million.
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