RUPERT WACE AT TEFAF
[BIZ/LEI: London, November 20] Among the Egyptian pieces being shown will be a delightful limestone hieroglyphic relief of an owl from the late Dynastic Period, 664-332 BC. The owl was the alphabetic hieroglyph for the sound ‘m’. The relief, which measures 32 x 23 cm, came from a private French collection and will be priced at EUR 30,000. From ancient Greece is an elegant Attic terracotta black figure neck amphora attributed to the Antimenes Painter, circa 510 BC. It stands 39 cm high and each side of the shoulder is painted with a panel of a central pair of eyes with a long serpentine brow. The painted decoration also depicts figures of Dionysos, the god of wine, on one side holding a rhyton (drinking vessel) in his left hand and vines in his right, and on the other side a Kantharos (deep two-handled drinking cup) and vines. This fine example of a vessel with decorated shoulders has a distinguished provenance having been in the Vogell collection, Karlsruhe, around 1908, then the celebrated Kevorkian Foundation and later the Schloss collection in New York. It will be offered for sale at EUR 68,000. A powerfully evocative sculpture is a Celtic red sandstone head dating from the 1st century BC/1st century AD, which came from a private German collection and will be priced at EUR 20,000. The round, domed head is carved with an oval face with a prominent jutting chin, small mouth and large almond-shaped eyes. One of the earliest pieces, dating from the first quarter of the 2nd millennium BC is a Canaanite bronze figure of a stylized male warrior. Similar to an example in the British Museum, this figure has an oval head and short arms holding a spear and curved sword, a short dagger is depicted in relief below the chest. From a UK collection, this rare bronze will be for sale at EUR 20,000. Another rarity is an Assyrian chamfron dating from the 8th/7th century BC around the time of their great conquests of Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Babylon and southern Mesopotamia. A chamfron is the headpiece of a horse’s armor and this example is decorated with the head of a king or deity with large deeply outlined eyes, thick eyebrows and a wavy fringe which falls in three coiled curls on either side of the bearded face. Formerly in a UK collection, the chamfron is 29.1 cm high and will be offered for EUR 70,000. Rupert Wace has been dealing in antiquities for over 30 years and opened his own business in 1988. He is Vice Chairman of the Antiquities Dealers Association in the UK and a member of the Board of the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art, both of which rigorously uphold the ethics of dealing in ancient art and whose members follow a strict code of ethics concerning the authenticity and provenance of the objects they sell. Rupert Wace is also a member of BADA and CINOA. His clients include major international collectors as well as some of the world’s great museums such as the British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum in the UK; the Musée du Louvre, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Antikenmuseum, Basel, and the Staatliche Museum in Munich. Event: The European Fine Art Fair, Stand 460
Rupert Wace Ancient Art will once again be exhibiting at The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht. The TEFAF is the most important event of its kind in the world and takes place from Friday 7 through Sunday 16 March 2008. One of London’s most respected dealers in antiquities, Rupert Wace will offer for sale works of art from ancient civilizations in Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East, at prices ranging from EUR 5,000 to EUR 500,000.
A much older Egyptian piece, dating from the Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, period of Senwosret III, circa 1878-1859 BC, is a dark brown serpentine standing figure of a private individual called Imhotep. He is shown with a sensitively carved head, the curls of his hair individually incised, while he gazes directly ahead. He stands with one foot forward, his long skirt knotted below the chest and his arms held close to his sides. A simple funerary text is carved around the integral base. From a private collection in the Netherlands, the figure will be offered for sale at EUR 250,000.
Dates: 7 to 16 March 2008
Venue: MECC, 6229 GV Maastricht, the Netherlands
Opening Hours: Daily: 11:00 to 7:00. Sunday, 16 March 11:00 to 18:00
Admission: EUR 55 single, EUR 90 double, including one catalogue
http://www.rupertwace.co.uk/