Outstanding Greek vases in Gorny & Mosch’s June auction

On June 27, Gorny & Mosch’s Auction 264 “Ancient Art” will be held in Munich. A wonderful catalog has been published for the event. More than 900 lots will be auctioned, including selected Greek vases.

Once again, part of the collection compiled by Israeli jeweler Schlomo Moussaieff (1925-2015) will come under the hammer. This part is comprised mainly of splendid jewelry and some pieces that have not yet been auctioned (Lots 112, 137, 143, 185, 349, 351, 366). The pieces come from London or Israel, the latter with an export license from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

In addition, a remarkable Berlin collection of scarabs and seals will be up for sale. There is also a noteworthy selection of marble sculptures, which could be purchased at a very reasonable price. The selection of bronze sculptures also features some highlights in the form of a collection of Venus statues and a pair of silver busts.

An overview of the pieces on offer:

• Vases: 82 lots

• Terracotta sculptures: 21 lots

• Stone sculptures: 22 lots

• Bronze sculptures: 67 lots

• Wall painting: 1 lot

• Tools: 29 lots

• Lamps: 24 lots

• Jewelry: 76 lots

• Cameos, gems and seals: 32 lots

• Glass: 32 lots

• North Africa: 42 lots

• Ancient Orient: 58 lots

• Pre- and Early History: 29 lots

• Byzantine Empire 21 lots

• Islam: 2 lots

• Pre-Columbian art: 68 lots

• North America: 1 lot

• Asia: 28 lots

• Middle Ages: 4 lots

• Modern period: 2 lots

• Antique-like: 13 lots

• Lots: 272 lots

Lot 17

Attic bowl of the Hegesiboulos Painter. About 500 BC. Type B bowl. Height 8.8 cm, Width including handles 30.9 cm, ø 23.8cm, Base ø 9.7cm. Red-figure, details in red. Inside, a large tondo with two komasts. The elderly Erastes (named “ΛΑΧΑΡΕΣ” in inscription) dances while the younger Eromenos (named “ΚΥΔΙΑΣ” in inscription) drinks out of a bowl. Outside, large decorative palmette motifs around the handles, with three figures painted between them. On side A, a hetaira dances with crotales between a youth playing the barbiton (named “ΜΕΛΕΣ” in inscription) on the left and a youth with stick, basket and bowl on the right. Between the hetaira and the youth on the right, the inscription ΛΙΜΕΜ or ΛΙΣΕΣ. On side B, an ithyphallic satyr dancing with an amphora on his shoulder between a maenad with crotales on the left and a maenad with thyrsos on the right. In the spaces, a kalos inscription: ΑΙΓΙΛ-ΟΣ beside the head of the maenad on the right, ΚΑΛΟΣ between the satyr and the maenad on the left. Reassembled from fragments, only small retouched areas at the cracks.

Provenance: Ex P.C. Collection, Southern Germany; ex Sotheby’s London, December 13-14, 1982, Lot 248. Acquired from Lord McAlpine, London. Most recently at Gorny & Mosch, Auction 252, 2017, Lot 62. Probably listed in the Medici Archives. Withdrawn to resolve the issue of ownership. The Italian authorities have not reclaimed it.

Published: Beazley Archive Pottery Database 7047. Acquired once again from Sotheby’s London, July 13-14, 1987, Lot 409.

Estimated price: 40,000 euros

Lot 104

Torso of Asclepius. Roman Imperial Period, 1st / 2nd century AD. White, fine-grained marble. Height 8 cm. Undersized male figure rests his right shoulder on a staff. He feeds an egg to a snake, which is wound around the staff. His left hand is on his hip and hidden by a mantle, which is tightly folded around his body, only revealing the chest and right shoulder. An omphalos at the feet. Head and feet broken off with the front part of the plinth, right arm reassembled but complete.

Provenance: Ex Prof. Dr. Wuttge Collection, Munich. Acquired in the Munich art trade in the 1960s/70s.

Estimated price: 50,000 euros

Lot 111A

Telesphoros. Roman, 2nd – 3rd century AD. Fine-grained marble. Height 28cm. Boy in hooded robe. Finely polished surface! Feet and small part of the robe broken.

Provenance: Ex M.S. Collection, Vienna. Acquired from Dr. A.A., Munich at the end of the 1970s/80s

Estimated price: 5,000 euros

Lot 124

Bronze eagle. Roman Imperial Period, 3rd – 5th century AD. Solid bronze cast, Height 33 cm, Length 32 cm. Standing bird of prey with slightly tilted head and folded wings. The feathers are graphically inscribed, only slightly sculpturally carved out. Nice olive-green patina! Feet broken, fissure on one side.

Provenance: Ex M.B. Collection, Bavaria, since before 1953 at least. Family-owned ever since.

Lot: 36,000 euros

Lot 125A

Hermes. Roman Imperial Period, Augustan era, 1st century AD. Height 16.6 cm (with a 20.5 cm base). Solid bronze cast with matching, profiled, round base (with preserved traces of the old molten lead). Lips and nipples inlaid in copper, eyes in silver. Hermes paces naked with a mantle draped over his left shoulder. In his right hand he holds a moneybag, in his left he holds the caduceus, the lower part of which is preserved. In the short, stud-like curls of his hair, he wears a band with feathers on his forehead. Wings at his temples. Finest quality!

Provenance: Ex M.S. Collection, Vienna. Acquired from Dr. A.A., Munich at the end of the 1970s/80s

Estimated price: 15,000 euros

Lot 253

Small perfume flacon made of layered agate, gold and garnet. Hellenistic, 2nd century BC. 23, 62g, Height 3.5cm. Bulbous, miniature vessel with a corpus made from layered agate. At the bottom, a flat foot rim made from sheet gold. The tall, slender neck and the shoulder are also made from sheet gold. On the shoulder, tongue-like leaf motifs made from gold wire. The neck is grooved. On the corpus, two crescent-shaped, domed garnets and one round, domed garnet set in gold with perforated edges, as well as a star of small granules and an omphalos-like center. Two eyelets on the shoulder with the foxtail chain looped through them. Attached to this by a short foxtail chain is a golden pin (Length 3.5 cm) with a head made from a circumferentially embedded, oval-shaped banded agate. To seal the vessel, a hemispherical stopper, the top of which bears a gazelle head made from garnet. Intact.

Provenance: Ex Schlomo Moussaieff Collection London, 1948 – 2000. At Gorny & Mosch, auction 260, 2018, Lot 222.

Estimated price: 25,000 euros

Lot 381

Rare mother’s milk flask. 18th Dynasty, rule of Thutmose III to Amenhotep III, 1479-1352 BC. Height (not including base) 16 cm, Base height 3 cm. Terracotta with brown coating. Kneeling woman with small child on her lap. Her long, loose hair falls over her neck, two thick strands lie on either side of her chest on her bare upper body. Her large, slender hands hold the child’s stomach and upper thigh. The masterful work is evident in the upper arms, which partially stick out from the dainty, slightly bent body. The child reaches its right arm toward the mother’s right breast, its left arm dangles over the mother’s upper thigh. The woman wears a tall, polos crown, which serves as the spout. Surface slightly rubbed. Handle on the back broken off. Child’s head, neck area and right foot are missing. Front section of the knee restored with wax. With takeover-confirmation of the KHM, Vienna and Austrian export-license, plus copies of a TL-analysis dated February 2, 2000, a certificate from The Art Loss Register and a description of the Museum!

Provenance: Sangiorgi Collection, Palazzo Borghese, Rome, up to 1948. Acquired from this collection in the same year by Russell Roberts. Family-owned ever since. Loaned to the Vienna Kunsthistorischen Museum (Art History Museum) for an exhibition from 1 September 2004 to 1 January 2006.

Estimated price: 22,000 euros

Lot 555

Large stone vase. Ulua Valley, ca. 800-1100 AD Height 21 cm, ø 12 cm. Yellowish marble. Tall, cylindrical vessel on a flat bottom and a circumferential, slightly raised ring base. The outer walls are carved with vine motifs, with a Janus-like human face on each side at the center. The upper rim is separated from the relief by a smooth, non-carved strip at the top. The handles on the sides are shaped like hybrid creatures, half-human, half-predatory cat. Outbreak at rim, some abrasions and sediments, small hole in the bottom, otherwise intact. Includes a newspaper article about this vessel!

Provenance: Ex E. Würfel Collection, Bavaria, since 1976 at least.

Estimated price: 3,500 euros

Pre-viewings will be held at Gorny & Mosch on Maximiliansplatz at the following times:

Sunday, June 23, 2019

1.00-5.00 pm

Tuesday, June 25 and Wednesday June 26, 2019

10.00 am-6.00 pm

Thursday, June 27, 2019 (day of the auction)

From 9.00 am and by prior appointment.

You can order the catalog for Auction 264 from Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, Maximilianplatz 20, D-80333 Munich, Tel. +49 / (0)89 / 24 22 643-0, Fax +49 / (0)89 / 22 85 513. It is also available online at the Gormy & Mosch website.