Pre-Columbian, northern Peru, late Moche, ca 800 CE. Truly larger than any Moche portrait head we have ever had the honor of handling, a superb and enormous bichrome portrait head presenting an expressive visage comprised of wide open, inset eyes, a pronounced, curved nose with openwork nostrils, a well-defined, protruding mouth with each tooth individually delineated, and carefully modeled facial planes and contours - even the philtrum (vertical groove running from nasal septum to upper lip) is defined. Moche effigy pottery was usually created with moulds; however, each piece was individually and uniquely refined with hand tools and decorated using slips of red, cream, and brown hues. Given his elaborate phenotype with facial tattoos/paint, huge earspools, and an impressive helmet/headdress adorned with a rich variety of stylized geometric motifs, all hand-painted in red on a cream ground, the subject portrayed here was most likely a revered warrior or leader. Perhaps the best known Moche vessels are veristic portrait stirrup-spouted jars, and scholars believe the Moche to be perhaps the only ancient culture in the Americas that produced such vessels. The Moche depicted real people, and furthermore, it has been possible to follow the progression of age and rank of several renowned individuals portrayed at different times of their lives in pottery. One particular face, easily identified because of his cut lip, appears in more than forty Moche pottery vessels. What is remarkable about this piece, however, is that it is not a vessel, but rather a sculptural portrait head with a closed bottom, most likely intended to stand on its own as a monument to the deceased. A jaw-dropping example that has been deemed ancient via thermoluminescence testing. Size: 12.5" L x 15" W x 13.75" H (31.8 cm x 38.1 cm x 34.9 cm) Provenance: Ex-Private Spanish collection acquired in the 1980's; comes with TL report from QED Laboratoire, Aix-en-Provence Condition: Repaired from four to six large pieces. Surface wear with abrasions and chips as shown. Nice manganese deposits. All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #118051
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Magna Graecia, Southern Italy, Apulia, Virginia Exhibition Painter, ca. 330 to 300 BCE. A masterful Apulian red-figure amphora attributed to A.D. Trendall’s Virginia Exhibition Painter, the vase of a grand scale, presenting an elegant, sinuous form with intriguing iconography (see extended description below) and extensive decoration, all finely delineated in red-figure technique with additional fugitive white, yellow, and beige pigments. An exceptional and important work displaying superb artistry and technique. Size: 14.75" in diameter x 39" H (37.5 cm x 99.1 cm)Virtually no ancient Greek paintings have survived the tests of time. This makes the painted compositions found on ceramic vessels like this example invaluable sources of information about ancient Greek visual art. Refined vases like this amphora were not merely utilitarian pottery, but rather works of art in their own right, highly prized throughout the classical world. Red figure pieces in particular allowed for the development of more naturalistic imagery than black figure examples. This innovative technique involved creating figures by outlining them in the natural red of the vase, making it possible for the painter to then enrich the figural forms with black lines to suggest volume, perspectival depth, and movement, bringing those silhouettes and their environs to life. Beyond this, fugitive pigments made it possible for the artist to create additional layers of interest and detail.Side A of this amphora features a pair of warriors sheltered by an ionic naiskos, one on horseback wielding a spear, his horse's right front leg lifted to mirror his own attack gesture targeted at his opponent who counters with his weapon and shield. Above this dramatic depiction of the pair of rivals, on the shoulder of the vase, is a female bust emerging from a blossom, a signature of the Virginia Exhibition Painter as well as the elite White Sakkos Painter. The Virginia Exhibition Painter also included floral elements beneath the warriors as well as a pair of plume-like elements beside the rider's torso, perhaps elements of his helmet and/or armor. This compares to another Apulian artist's (the Ganymede Painter's) penchant for adding iconography beyond the figures under the naiskos. On the obverse is a pair of draped standing youths facing one another, perhaps mourners of whomever did not survive the rivalry depicted on Side A, one leaning upon a staff or walking stick, with a distinct maker's mark between their heads. In addition to the figural imagery are the extensive decorative elements which are quite characteristic of the Virginia Exhibition Painter's known oeuvre. Note the ivy leaf motif beneath the rim created via fugitive white and creamy beige pigments, the black fan palmettes and white vertical rays on the neck painted just above the female bust who emerges from a blooming, foliated blossom with elaborate spiraled tendrils on the shoulder, this underscored by a tongue pattern, all in red-figure with fugitive white and yellow. Adorning the central naiskos scene are ivy leaf vines flanking the ionic columns as well as registers of dotted, scrolled, linear, and wave motifs below the scenes and continuing around the circumference of the vessel. Finally, beneath the elegant twin handles are large, double, red-figure palmettes.A remarkable vase of the so-called Ornate Style by the Virginia Exhibition Painter of a grand scale, decorated in an elaborate manner with intriguing scenes and figures as well as a great deal of subsidiary ornament in added colors. For a comparable example at Royal Athena Galleries listed at $125,000, follow this link: http://www.masterart.com/Greek-the-Virginia-Exhibition-Painter-330-300-Apulian-large-red-figured-amphora-the-Virginia-Exhibition-Painter-PortalDefault.aspx?tabid=53&dealerID=361&objectID=502940Trendall named this artist the Virginia Exhibition Painter, because five of his vases which came from the same tomb were first featured in an exhibition of South Italic vases at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1982, and a few were published in the accompanying catalogue - M. E. Mayo and K. Hamma, "The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia" (Richmond 1982). Cf. especially the naiskos scene on p. 179. No. 73, and the woman on the shoulder of no. 76 (p. 185), the latter also a neck-amphora. Provenance: Ex-Royal Athena Gallery, NYC, NY. Condition: Handles reattached. Drilled hole beneath one handle for thermoluminescence testing. Surface wear with expected scratches, pigment losses, and mineral deposits commensurate with age. Small chip on right column of naiskos. Painting still quite vivid and impressive. All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #118744
Western Mexico, Tecoman and coastal area, Colima, ca. 200 BCE to 200 CE. The style of this unslipped buff figurine is typical of Tecoman and the coastal area. It blends the typical coffee-bean eyes and facial features with a plate-flat body and string arms. The Colima would have placed such a figure with his characteristic cap-shaped helmet, ear ornaments, ornamented breechcloth, pectoral, and armbands in a tomb either to protect or resemble the deceased. Size: 4.25" W x 7.75" H (10.8 cm x 19.7 cm)An excellent example from the West Mexican shaft tomb tradition. Ceramic figurines such as this are among the most expressive and dramatic created in Mesoamerica. According to scholars of this tradition, such ceramic figures were the primary outlet for artistic expression for the shaft tomb cultures and there is little record of monumental architecture, stelae, or public art associated with these cultures. Nice mineral deposits and root marks. Provenance: Ex-Private Arizona collection Condition: Right arm reattached. Upper section of head reattached. Nice manganese deposits and root marks. All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #118976
West Africa, Cameroon, Mambila peoples, ca. early 20th century CE. This is a carved wood helmet mask painted with kaolin and ochres, with a round face with three dimensional eyes, nose, and mouth full of teeth on the front, and eyes and long horns reminiscent of an antelope forming the part that goes over the wearer's head. The Mambila peoples live in the grasslands of Cameroon and Nigeria and practice agriculture from autonomous villages. Masks like these are worn by men in the society during the planting and harvesting seasons; they are meant to represent the hunter in the bush, becoming a part of the animal kingdom. They are often danced alongside secondary animal masks like the crow, owl, or dog, who is a valued hunting companion. This type of mask is often referred to as a "moon mask". Comes with custom stand. Size: 19.25" L x 9" W x 6.5" H (48.9 cm x 22.9 cm x 16.5 cm). Provenance: Ex-private Washinton collection; ex-Herell collection, Los Angeles collected in situ, December 1987. Condition: Intact, with expected wear, but beautifully clear colors and features. All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #113631
Silver and silver mounted wares, comprising; an oval hinge lidded inkstand, with a loaded base, Birmingham 1909, a christening mug, London 1911, a helmet shaped cream jug, Sheffield 1909, a small cruet stand, fitted with three faceted glass cruets, the stand London 1912 and plated wares, comprising; a lidded entree dish, with a detachable handle and a pair of candle snuffers, combined weight of weighable silver 301 gms.
A French fireman’s lacquered brass Adrian style helmet of the Sapeurs Pompiers d’Etrepagny, skull with front and back peaks, low comb with grenade finial, side plume holder on left, crowned grenade and wreath surmounted by title strap to the front, chinstrap (no lining). Basically GC (minor dents, comb loose).
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