15th Century and Earlier Antiquities

ITEM: Scarab with spiral design MATERIAL: Steatite CULTURE: Egyptian PERIOD: Second Intermediate Period, 1700 – 1550 B.C DIMENSIONS: 12 mm x 9 mm CONDITION: Good condition PROVENANCE...

ITEM: Head MATERIAL: Marble CULTURE: Greek, Hellenistic period PERIOD: 3rd – 1st Century B.C DIMENSIONS: 55 mm x 47 mm x 47 mm CONDITION: Good condition. Includes stand PROVENANCE: E...

An elegant hollow-moulded terracotta horse. This horse is modelled in a standing pose with its neck elegantly arched and its ears pricked forward attentively. The mane is indicated with the use of a scalloped red design with white dotted details. The head is well modelled with notched ears pricked on either side of a feather ornament, with a tasselled rope looped around the top of the neck and tufted ornaments on the chest collar, the back is covered with a long red cloth with white dotted detailing, gathered at the bottom atop the flaring mudguard. The rump is encircled by a series of intricate tassels, attached to a tufted back piece. This terracotta may represent a horse fitted for a parade. Horses were an important status symbol in ancient China. These animals were brought to China via the Silk Road and were considered luxury goods. As such horses were a sign of wealth among the elite, and there were strict laws which restricted the ownership of horses to people of elevated rank. In fact, soldiers serving in China’s military...

Bactrian alabaster chalice, circa 3000-2000 BC. It has an elegant tapering formed base with a undeep rimmed cup. The alabaster is strikingly vained. ...

Rare Bactrian hardstone weight with creamy stone color and 2 holes on the top, the base is flat. In the ancient time, the two holes were used to tie up with rope and measure the weig...

Sukhothai pottery jar with natural shell and barnacle from shipwreck. Age: Thailand, Sukhothai Period, 14th - 16th Century Size: Height 30.5 C.M. / Width 17.7 C.M. Condition: Ni...

Glazed ceramic bowl with a convex wall and everted rim. With a cobalt blue inscription in the centre which reads, “baraka li-sahibihi” (blessing to its owner). Ceramics such as t...

A pair of Chinese pottery brick tile with figures. Age: China, Song Dynasty, 10th - 12th century Size: Height 26.5 C.M. / Width 26.5 - 26.8 C.M. Size i...

A Chinese Song period celadon glazed bowl. Really nicely thinly potted example with craquelure due to age. Provenance: From a private London coll...

A pair of Song Dynasty porcelain olive green vases decorated with gods around the vase and flying dragon on top of each vase. Each lid decorat...

A small, Prehistoric Anatolian marble head of the kiliya type. Of highly stylized geometric form, the marble head is elliptical, with a faintly defined nos...

An elegant and superbly sculpted pottery statue of standing civil official, Tang dynasty 618-907, come with oxford authentication TL test certificate. Oxford TL Test sample numbers: ...

A magnificent and large early Tang dynasty (618-906 AD) model of a prancing or dancing horse, circa 7th century. The majestic animal is caught mid-motion, one leg raised, head grace...

PRESENTING a STUNNING piece of Indian Antiquity from circa the 4th-5th Century, namely, A Stucco Torso of the Buddha, Gandhara. Ancient Gandhara is located in the rugged foothills of the Himalayas in what is today northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, was for centuries a thriving center of trade along the Silk Road linking China, South Asia, and the Mediterranean. The piece was purchased by a Private Collector at Sotheby’s, or more probably, Christies of New York Auction pre-2000. The paper label on the wooden base is “7281/465” for Sale Number 7281, Lot No. 465. Sotheby’s and Christies operate a twice yearly auction of Southeast Asian Art & Antiquities in New York in the months of March and September. The Sale Number is more like a ‘Christies;’ Sale Number but we cannot locate any records for this sale online as it was pre-2004. The sculpture is a Gandharan stucco headless bust...

Two tall ceremonial urns dating from the 12th-13th century, Southern Song dynasty. These two stunning vases depict 12 traditional ritual attendan...

A stunning set of 5 graceful terracotta figurines from the Ming Dynasty '1368-1644' AD. These elegant attendants are standing on a yellow glazed lotus flower over a high hexagonal green plinth and wear fine robes in matching green and yellow glazes. The unglazed areas have pigmented colors in red, black and white. Each is carrying essential offerings for the royal family. The head is detachable as often seen on the larger figures from this period. Meticulously detailed facial expressions have been hand-painted. Condition: Mint, finely preserved glaze and pigment, undamaged and no repairs. Provenance: Ex. Danish Collection. This set is guaranteed authentic and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and TL Test from Laboratory Kotalla in Germany (The Oldest Thermoluminescence Testing Laboratory in the World). Dimensions: Average 54 H cms Burial figurines of graceful dancers, mystical beasts, and everyday objects reveal both how people in early China approached death and how they lived. Since people viewed the afterlife as an extension of worldly life, these figurines, called mingqi, sometimes referred as “spirit utensils” or “vessels of ghosts” disclose details of routine existence and provide insights into belief systems over a thousand-year period. The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China – then known as the Empire of the Great Ming – for 276 years (1368–1644 AD). Founded by Chu Yuan-chang, the rebel leader that was successful in removing the mongols from the throne. Chinese control was re-asserted in China and eastern Asia. Literature became more important, schools were created, and the justice system was reformed. The Ming dynasty is described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history,” was the last imperial dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. The practice of burying ceramic objects with the deceased went into decline from the 10th to the 14th Century AD. There was a revival in placing miniature representations of glazed terracotta objects such a furniture, food offerings, horses, miniature statues...

These beautiful duck vessels were completely painted at one time, and probably had no utilitarian use. The holes at the top are stoppers for lids. Ducks are fertility symbols, and it...

This marble head of Buddha is of Gandhara culture, Pakistan, 6th century. This piece is part of designer John Brevard's personal collection and has been...