ArtAncient Figurative Sculptures

A pair of monumental limestone sphinxes of Pharaoh Nectanebo I, from the processional avenue of the Serapeum of Memphis, 30th Dynasty, circa 379 - 360 BC. The sphinxes of the Serapeum have captivated travellers since Roman times. However, despite their significance, they are conspicuously absent from the collections of most major museums. Indeed, their existence in private hands is so improbable, and their imitations so numerous, that the present sphinxes were assumed to be modern copies throughout their recent ownership history. Finally recognised and conserved after an extraordinary chance discovery at a garden furniture sale...

South Arabian Calcite female figure 3rd Century BC to 1st century A.D. Calcite Alabaster height: 30.5 cm A magnificent alabaster female figure, a f...

Roman Marble Fragment of jupiter Circa 2nd-3rd Century A.D. Measure: Height: 19.7 cm This beautiful Roman fragmentary statuette depicts Jupiter, the king of the gods, here recognisable from his two chief attributes, the eagle with outstretched wings - according the Pseudo-Hyginus, singled out by Jupiter because ''it alone, men say, strives to fly straight into the rays of the rising sun'' - and the base of the scepter, which remains at the side of the left foot, an aspect likely borrowed from the statue of Zeus at Olympia, once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Though much of the original piece has been lost, the subtle anatomical detail in the feet mark this out as a piece of exceptional quality, and the work of an artist of particular talent and patience - as Johann Winckelmann once said of the famous Belvedere Torso, ''if you contemplate this with a quiet eye [...] the god will at once become visible in this stone.'' This fragment once caught the eye of Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle (1694-1758), a Knight of the Garter and among the most prolific collectors of his day. The piece, acquired during his travels to Rome, was proudly displayed on an alcove of the Western Staircase of Castle Howard...

Roman marble Fragment of a Right Foot with Sandal Circa 1st - 2nd Century A.D. An evocative Roman marble fragment, preserving the front portion of an over-lifesized sandalled foot. The toes, nails, and bridge of the foot have been sensitively carved. The outer sole of the sandal remains, with delicate, pointed straps joining between the first two toes in a diamond shape. This fragment once belonged to Danish sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau...

Grotesque theatrical mask of Maccus Late Hellenistic or Early Imperial period, circa 1st century B.C. – 1st century A.D., likely from Southern Italy. Terracotta with remains of pin...

A remarkably fine example of Archaic sculpture.  A figure of a discophoros, or discus bearer, standing with his right leg forward, gripping a discus in his right hand, the left arm raised with an open palm. Described with admiration in Münzen und Medaillen's 1961 auction, "The figure is a masterpiece and illustrates with rare vividness the essence of good Etruscan sculpture...