NEW YORK — There’s no gold like old world gold, especially if it originated a couple of thousand years Before the Common Era.
And there’ll be plenty of such rare, gilded specimens up for grabs at Christie’s 15th annual Ancient Jewelry sale on December 13, which features nearly 150 lots of exquisite craftsmanship from the ancient world, ranging in date from about 3000 B.C. to 1000 A.D.
According to G. Max Bernheimer, Christie’s international head of antiquities, the pieces offered in this sale have “survived remarkably well [given their age because] compared to other metals, gold does not deteriorate. Plus, ancient gold is generally 93% pure, or better.”
Molly Morse Limmer, head of antiquities at Christie’s Americas, added that the focus of the sale this year was on jewelry, even though some of the “original gold is more fragile and ends up being more display object than wearable art.”
Among the most valuable lots is an intricately designed Greek gold and carnelian ring from the Hellenistic period, circa 330-300 B.C (lot 255; est. $120,000-180,0000). The face of the ring features a carnelian stone engraved with the head of Herakles, depicted as an older man with a thick voluminous beard and a wreath of laurel in his hair, and an oval box bezel embellished with ropes and filigree spirals punctuated with granules, while the ring is formed from a hollow tube overlaid with equally detailed, twisted rope wires.
While the quality of the fine filigree workmanship on such pieces is extraordinary, it’s not just the biggest ticket items in the sale that are necessarily the most exciting, experts told BLOUIN ARTINFO, noting that lots that are low on estimates but high on historical significance should be of particular interest to collectors.
For example, Bernheimer’s favorite piece is an oval-shaped Mycenaean carnelian seal stone from the late Helladic period, around 1375-1250 B.C., that is engraved with two heraldic griffins, each standing with its crested and beaked head turned back (lot 242; est. $6,000-8,000).
“It’s of a stunning color and the quality of engraving is very good,” he said. “The fact that it was made in the very early days adds to its intrigue and historical rarity.”
Meanwhile, Morse Limmer is partial to a Byzantine gold and rock crystal pendant. The double-sided, circa 6th-7th century A.D. piece has one side engraved with a Nativity scene, and the other engraved with the Adoration (lot 338; est. $25,000-35,000).
Musing that “for some reason, this collection is very Greek-heavy,” the auction house’s experts observed that many pieces come to auction by way of a certain German collector, and said the sale is well-timed in December for “collectors and people who like to give wearable things during the holidays.”
Click on the slideshow to see the highlights of Christie’s Ancient Jewelry Sale, December 13, Rockefeller Plaza, New York.
