Among the Egyptian pieces to be shown by Rupert Wace is an alabaster figure of an ushabti dating from the late 18th Dynasty Period of Horemheb, circa 1300 BC. An ushabti is a funerary figure placed in tombs as a steward who would work in the after-life for the dead man, especially agricultural labour. He is identified by the attributes of a hoe and a pick incised on the shoulders symbolising his working in the fields. The distinctive figure comes from a highly sought after period when Horemheb was Pharoah, having previously been the royal scribe and general to Tutankhamun and his successor Ay. It is also especially desirable for being one of the few known examples with features, particularly the face and eyes, typical of the post-Amarna style. The provenance for this figure is Ex Mathias Komor 1958 followed by a UK private collection and it will be offered for around SF125,000, £55,000.

Another Egyptian piece is a limestone fragment, finely carved in shallow relief with Osiris, god of the underworld, enthroned wearing a close fitting cloak and a broad banded collar necklace and crowned with the Atef crown with ram's horns and central uraeus. The husband of Isis, Osiris is one of the most important Egyptian gods who was also associated with agriculture and symbolic of regeneration. Dating from the 26th-30th Dynasty, 664-342 BC, this 20 cm high relief was formerly in an American private collection and is priced at around SF40,000, £18,000.

Roman objects include a marble head of a Triton dating from circa 1st century BC/1st century AD. Triton was the son of Neptune, a merman, half man, half fish, and an unusual subject for a marble sculpture. In this example from a private British collection, the twisting head, 8 cm high, juts forward from the shoulders, the movement emphasised by the fin-like projections at the jaw. Thick locks of unruly hair sweep in waves around the face, as if wet with sea water, and the smooth polished skin contrasts with the unpolished hair. The style suggests a narrative relief rather than a sarcophagus as the origin and recalls work from Pergamon. It is for sale for around SF20,000, £9,000.

An archaic Greek bronze of a lion dates from the 6th century BC. Depicted with his front paws outstretched, the 7.8 cm long beast has a long body incised with indications of the ribs that narrows towards the haunches where the tail curls up to rest between the bent back legs. The neat circular mane incised at the edge frames his head which is turned to the left to face us with the open mouth revealing the tongue lolling over the lower jaw. Previously in a private British collection, this fine quality piece which probably originally decorated the rim of a vessel will be offered for around SF30,000, £14,000.

A Hellenistic marble Aphrodite dating from the 3rd-1st century BC was acquired by a French collector in the 1950s. The beauty of the young naked goddess is emphasised by the elongated proportions of her elegantly long legs, typical of the Hellenistic period. She stands with her weight on her right leg, her left leg slightly bent at the knee and she holds her right hand across her body in a gesture of modesty. Rupert Wace will be asking around SF55,000, £24,000 for this attractive piece.

Also on offer for around SF55,000, £24,000 is an Alexandrian bronze figure of a youth playing twin flutes (auloi). It has a distinguished provenance having been in the collection of Dr Fouquet, a Frenchman who lived in Cairo in the early 20th century, and was sold in Paris in 1922 and later acquired by the well-known English collector J. Bomford, most of whose collection is now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The rare figure stands 9.8 cm high with a pair of clappers beneath his left foot which beats time to the music while both arms are held forward to hold the missing flutes.
His cheeks are puffed out and his finely detailed face is crowned with a wreath or diadem in his short, thick hair which is held in a distinctive braid or tail at the back of the head. A piece of drapery falls in elegant serpentine lines across his body and over his left shoulder.

Rupert Wace has been dealing in antiquities for some 30 years, opening his own business in 1988. He has handled the private sales of antiquities from the British Rail Pension Fund and his clients include the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the National Museum of Wales, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, Staatliche Museum in Munich, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Cleveland Museum of Art. As well as being a member of the IAADA, Rupert Wace is Chairman of the Antiquities Dealers Association in the UK which also rigorously upholds the ethics of dealing in ancient art.

Sue Bond Public Relations
Hollow Lane Farmhouse, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP31 3RQ
Tel. +44 (0)1359 271085, Fax. +44 (0)1359 271491
E-mail. info@suebond.co.uk
Website www.suebond.co.uk

Back to news