hr: Antiques

In December of 2007, a 5,000-year-old sculpture set a new record for the highest price ever paid for a sculpture and for an antiquity at an auction. The Guennol Lioness, carved ca 3000 2800 BC in ancient Mesopotamia, had fetched an impressive $57,161,000 million dollars at Sotheby’s in New York, exceeding its presale estimate of $18 million dollars.  The successful English bidder wishes to remain anonymous.  This rare sculpture was described by Sotheby’s as one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands.

This “Lioness Demon” is an anthropomorphic sculpture made in limestone that is 3 1/4 inches in height.  It is a diminutive well-muscled feline figure with humanlike posture.  The head is turned to the left, resting upon massive shoulders.  The paws are clenched in front of the muscular chest.  According to scholars and historians, many ancient Near Eastern deities were represented with merged human and animal features.  Such humanlike animal images evoked the Mesopotamians’ belief in attaining power over the physical world by combining the superior physical attributes of various species.

The remarkable piece was previously owned by private collectors, Alastair Bradley Martin and his wife, Edith Martin, in 1948 and was part of an extensive and celebrated Guennol collection of ancient, Asian, African, and American Folk art.  The Guennol collection takes its name from the couple’s New York estate.  Guennol is a welsh name for Martin.  The Guennol Lioness has been on display in New York’s Brooklyn Museum of Art for nearly 60 years until it was sold in 2007.  The proceeds will benefit a charitable trust formed by the Martin family.

The previous record for a sculpture sold at an auction was $29,161,000 for Picasso’s “Tete de Femme” in November of 2007.  The previous record for an antiquity sold at an auction was $28,600,000 for a 2,000 year old “Artemis and the Stag” on June of 2007.  Both auctions were held at Sotheby’s in New York.