Origin
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Sculpture Ancient sculpture Animals Cats and lions Persia Ritual bronzes Egypt
See also : Sculpture Ancient sculpture Animals Cats and lions Persia Ritual bronzes Egypt
3000 BCE The Guennol Lioness
2007 SOLD for $ 57M by Sotheby's
The Guennol Lioness was sold for $ 57M by Sotheby's on December 5, 2007, lot 30.
This very finely chiseled stone figure 8.3 cm high has the head of a lioness on a human body. It certainly comes from the Iranian plateau and was sold in 1931 to a New York merchant. Its discovery thus precedes the excavations of Tell Agrab, begun in 1936 by a team from the University of Chicago appealed by other finds among the antique dealers of Baghdad.
Such hybrid representations between human and feline date back to prehistoric cultures. The ivory lion-man from the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, dated ca 35,000 to 40,000 years ago by radiocarbon, is the oldest authenticated example of figurative art. The Chauvet cave, painted 30,000 years ago, also includes a lion-woman hybrid.
The Guennol Lioness was sculpted about 5,000 years ago. It belongs to the Proto-Elamite culture, characterized by the development of a proto-writing that has not been decrypted. It is several centuries earlier than the use of the sphinx as a necropolis guardian in Egypt.
It is one of a kind in the round, but is related to similar figures that raise mountains or huge trunks in two-dimensional sigillary iconography. These representations are therefore symbols of extreme power, confirmed in the Guennol Lioness by the hypertrophy of the muscles and the authoritarian position of the head. The head is pierced, allowing to hang it to the neck of a prominent character.
Its name and its exact role in the mythology of that time are not known. It must be analyzed alongside its male counterpart, a bull's head on a human body, of which a kneeling figure is kept at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Unlike the Guennol Lioness whose hands are joined on the abdomen, this proto-Elamite hybrid holds a liturgical vessel.
Guennol is the pseudonym chosen by the couple of collectors who acquired it in 1948 and entrusted its exhibition for almost 60 years to the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Grok thought :
Quote
History Content @HistContent Sep 24
5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia The Guennol Lioness—half human, half lion—symbolized raw power. In 2007, it sold for $57.2M, the most expensive ancient sculpture ever. Why did our ancestors craft such hybrids?
This very finely chiseled stone figure 8.3 cm high has the head of a lioness on a human body. It certainly comes from the Iranian plateau and was sold in 1931 to a New York merchant. Its discovery thus precedes the excavations of Tell Agrab, begun in 1936 by a team from the University of Chicago appealed by other finds among the antique dealers of Baghdad.
Such hybrid representations between human and feline date back to prehistoric cultures. The ivory lion-man from the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, dated ca 35,000 to 40,000 years ago by radiocarbon, is the oldest authenticated example of figurative art. The Chauvet cave, painted 30,000 years ago, also includes a lion-woman hybrid.
The Guennol Lioness was sculpted about 5,000 years ago. It belongs to the Proto-Elamite culture, characterized by the development of a proto-writing that has not been decrypted. It is several centuries earlier than the use of the sphinx as a necropolis guardian in Egypt.
It is one of a kind in the round, but is related to similar figures that raise mountains or huge trunks in two-dimensional sigillary iconography. These representations are therefore symbols of extreme power, confirmed in the Guennol Lioness by the hypertrophy of the muscles and the authoritarian position of the head. The head is pierced, allowing to hang it to the neck of a prominent character.
Its name and its exact role in the mythology of that time are not known. It must be analyzed alongside its male counterpart, a bull's head on a human body, of which a kneeling figure is kept at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Unlike the Guennol Lioness whose hands are joined on the abdomen, this proto-Elamite hybrid holds a liturgical vessel.
Guennol is the pseudonym chosen by the couple of collectors who acquired it in 1948 and entrusted its exhibition for almost 60 years to the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Grok thought :
Quote
History Content @HistContent Sep 24
5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia The Guennol Lioness—half human, half lion—symbolized raw power. In 2007, it sold for $57.2M, the most expensive ancient sculpture ever. Why did our ancestors craft such hybrids?
- The Guennol Lioness, a 3.3-inch limestone sculpture from circa 3000 BCE in Mesopotamia (likely Elamite), depicts a muscular female lion-human hybrid in a protective stance, symbolizing raw power and fertility; it fetched $57.2 million at Sotheby's in 2007, setting a record for ancient sculptures until surpassed in 2019.
- In Mesopotamian art, hybrid figures like this combined human intellect with animal ferocity to represent divine authority and apotropaic protection against evil, as seen in palace reliefs where similar motifs guarded kings, per analyses in the Metropolitan Museum's Mesopotamian collections.
- Ancestors crafted such hybrids to embody cosmic forces and royal might, drawing from mythological precursors to ordered creation—evidenced by cuneiform texts describing leonine deities like Inanna's consort as embodiments of uncontrollable strength, blending awe with ritual control.
History of the Guennol Lioness
The Guennol Lioness (also called the Guennol Lioness Anthropomorphic Figurine) is a small limestone statue, approximately 8.26 cm (3¼ inches) tall, dating to the Proto-Elamite period, ca. 3300–2800 BCE. It was discovered sometime before 1931, most likely in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), near Baghdad. Its exact archaeological provenance is unknown because it surfaced on the antiquities market without documented excavation records.
The Guennol Lioness is widely regarded as one of the most important surviving works of early Mesopotamian/Elamite art for several reasons:
The Guennol Lioness is universally accepted as authentic by major scholars and institutions:
The Guennol Lioness (also called the Guennol Lioness Anthropomorphic Figurine) is a small limestone statue, approximately 8.26 cm (3¼ inches) tall, dating to the Proto-Elamite period, ca. 3300–2800 BCE. It was discovered sometime before 1931, most likely in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), near Baghdad. Its exact archaeological provenance is unknown because it surfaced on the antiquities market without documented excavation records.
- First known owner: Purchased in 1931 by the British archaeologist and collector Sir Leonard Woolley on behalf of the American collector Alastair Bradley Martin and his wife Edith Park Martin.
- Name origin: The Martins kept their collection at their estate named “Guennol” (Welsh for “martin”) in Long Island, New York; the piece became known as the Guennol Lioness.
- Public display: Loaned for decades to the Brooklyn Museum (1948–2007), where it became one of its most famous objects.
- 2007 auction: On 5 December 2007, Sotheby’s New York sold the statue for US $57.2 million (including premium), then the highest price ever paid for any sculpture or antiquity at auction. The buyer was a private English collector bidding through an agent.
- Current ownership: Remains in private hands; it has been exhibited only rarely since 2007 (notably in 2009 at the Louvre Abu Dhabi on temporary loan).
The Guennol Lioness is widely regarded as one of the most important surviving works of early Mesopotamian/Elamite art for several reasons:
- Artistic mastery: Despite its tiny size, it is an extraordinarily powerful and dynamic sculpture. The figure combines human and lion characteristics (therianthropomorphic): a muscular, standing anthropoid body with human arms and hands, but leonine legs, paws, face, ears, and mane. The pose—standing on tiptoes, elbows out, hands clenched—suggests intense strength or a ritual gesture.
- Iconographic importance: It is the finest and most complete example of a very rare type of Proto-Elamite figurine that mixes human and lion traits. Scholars interpret it variously as:
- A female demon or protective spirit (lioness attributes often linked to fertility, war, or the goddess Inanna/Ishtar)
- A representation of a priestess or worshipper in lion form
- A mythological being connected to the earliest known heroic motifs (similar to later Mesopotamian “lion-hunter” or Gilgamesh-type imagery)
- Rarity: Fewer than ten comparable Proto-Elamite anthropomorphic lion figures are known, and none match its quality or state of preservation.
- Cultural bridge: It belongs to the transitional period between the late Uruk and early Proto-Elamite cultures in southern Mesopotamia and southwestern Iran, a crucial phase in the development of complex urban societies and early writing.
The Guennol Lioness is universally accepted as authentic by major scholars and institutions:
- Material: Carved from creamy-white magnesite limestone typical of the period and region.
- Stylistic features: The exaggerated muscular anatomy, incised details, and proportions are consistent with other verified Proto-Elamite sculptures (e.g., similar lion-demons from Susa and the “Louvre lioness”).
- Thermoluminescence (TL) testing: Conducted in the 1990s and again before the 2007 sale; results were consistent with an age of approximately 5,000 years.
- Scholarly consensus: Published and accepted since the 1930s by leading archaeologists (Henri Frankfort, Pierre Amiet, Edith Porada, Annie Caubet, etc.). No serious scholar has questioned its authenticity.
5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia
— History Content (@HistContent) September 24, 2025
The Guennol Lioness—half human, half lion—symbolized raw power.
In 2007, it sold for $57.2M, the most expensive ancient sculpture ever.
Why did our ancestors craft such hybrids? pic.twitter.com/Xy4mPJ31P7
5th Egyptian Dynasty around 2400 BCE
2014 SOLD for £ 15.8M by Christie's
The Egyptian civilization boomed under the Fourth Dynasty, but the pyramids were the domains of the kings. Under the late 5th dynasty, ca 2400 BCE which was around 100 years after the Great Pyramids, they built a great necropolis near the Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.
Early Egyptians were cautious. In order to preserve the soul in case of damage to the mummy, they placed several painted limestone figures of the deceased as a young and vigorous man in the mortuary chamber also known as serdab. All kinds of offerings that could be useful to the deceased were accumulated therein.
The sculptures were made in the Royal workshops in Memphis. The memorial sculpture was inscribed with the name and social rank of the deceased and his family while the secondary figures were not. The remarkable anthropomorphic realism did not aim for a physical resemblance to the deceased and many of them are similar in face and expression.
On July 10, 2014, Christie's sold for £ 15.8M from a lower estimate of £ 4M the statuette of Sekhemka, Inspector of the scribes, 75 cm high. This big piece is in exceptional condition. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The man is sitting in a serene attitude, surrounded by his wife and his favorite son, both mid-scale. All three are named, with their titles. The wife starts a loving gesture. Hieroglyphs are detailing the long list of acceptable offerings.
The attitude of the man is very beautiful, with a serious gaze and the hint of a smile. He holds a partly opened scroll covered with fragile inscriptions that remain in perfect condition. The faces of the cube on which he sits are beautifully carved with offering bearers bringing geese, calves and flowers.
Early Egyptians were cautious. In order to preserve the soul in case of damage to the mummy, they placed several painted limestone figures of the deceased as a young and vigorous man in the mortuary chamber also known as serdab. All kinds of offerings that could be useful to the deceased were accumulated therein.
The sculptures were made in the Royal workshops in Memphis. The memorial sculpture was inscribed with the name and social rank of the deceased and his family while the secondary figures were not. The remarkable anthropomorphic realism did not aim for a physical resemblance to the deceased and many of them are similar in face and expression.
On July 10, 2014, Christie's sold for £ 15.8M from a lower estimate of £ 4M the statuette of Sekhemka, Inspector of the scribes, 75 cm high. This big piece is in exceptional condition. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The man is sitting in a serene attitude, surrounded by his wife and his favorite son, both mid-scale. All three are named, with their titles. The wife starts a loving gesture. Hieroglyphs are detailing the long list of acceptable offerings.
The attitude of the man is very beautiful, with a serious gaze and the hint of a smile. He holds a partly opened scroll covered with fragile inscriptions that remain in perfect condition. The faces of the cube on which he sits are beautifully carved with offering bearers bringing geese, calves and flowers.
2400 BCE The Masterpiece of the Schuster Master
2010 SOLD for $ 16.9M by Christie's
Prehistory and antiquity have left many works of art. Experts are able to combine certain pieces and assign them to a unique artist, the great master of the art of his time somehow.
4400 years ago, the Schuster Master worked in the Cyclades islands. His marble idols show pregnant women, arms crossed under the chest, body and head beautifully stylized, whose simplicity has influenced the great figurative sculptors of the last century such as Brancusi and Modigliani. Twelve works, nearly all are fragmentary, are attributed to him.
On December 9, 2010, Christie's sold for $ 16.9M from a lower estimate of $ 3M his masterpiece: a figure 29 cm high, in a stunning state of conservation. The attitude is realistic and flexible, with head slightly tilted back. The body proportions are perfect. This copy which belonged to the collection Schuster is the origin for the designation of the artist.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
4400 years ago, the Schuster Master worked in the Cyclades islands. His marble idols show pregnant women, arms crossed under the chest, body and head beautifully stylized, whose simplicity has influenced the great figurative sculptors of the last century such as Brancusi and Modigliani. Twelve works, nearly all are fragmentary, are attributed to him.
On December 9, 2010, Christie's sold for $ 16.9M from a lower estimate of $ 3M his masterpiece: a figure 29 cm high, in a stunning state of conservation. The attitude is realistic and flexible, with head slightly tilted back. The body proportions are perfect. This copy which belonged to the collection Schuster is the origin for the designation of the artist.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Anatolia - Stone Woman
2017 SOLD for $ 14.5M by Christie's
The Cycladic figures and the Kiliya-type idols from Anatolia seem to belong to the same family. Yet no evidence of historical correlation has been established. These anthropomorphic statuettes mostly show standing women. No male Kiliya has been described.
Marbles are not datable by physico-chemical methods. The Cycladic production probably extends over two millennia 5000 to 3000 years ago. The repetitiveness of these figures over such a long period is staggering but small details make it possible to define several phases. Anatolian statuettes, rarer and often fragmentary, do not allow a similar analysis.
Their use is different. The Cycladic woman is pregnant and protects her fecundity with her arms. The Anatolian woman holds her arms along the body and raises her forearms symmetrically towards the breast. The head slightly leaning backwards gave the nickname stargazer to the Anatolian type but no explanation is proposed for this attitude.
In both cases the figuration of the body is much stylized but the proportions are constant as if they met some artistic canon independent of the size of the statuette. They are undoubtedly artworks in the modern meaning of that word, in the category of the multiples.
The Anatolian woman has a heavy head shaped like a rugby ball placed over the frail cylinder of the neck which is an incontestable point of fragility. Almost all of them were broken at the neck and the experts conclude unconvincingly that they were used for ritual beheadings at the time of burials.
Two prestigious collections have sheltered an Anatolian idol in very good condition. The 20 cm high ex Schuster stargazer was sold for $ 1,8M by Christie's on June 8, 2005. The 23 cm high ex Guennol stargazer was exhibited on loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1966 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2007 and was sold for $ 14.5M on April 28, 2017 by Christie's, lot 12. Please watch the video shared by the auction house :
Marbles are not datable by physico-chemical methods. The Cycladic production probably extends over two millennia 5000 to 3000 years ago. The repetitiveness of these figures over such a long period is staggering but small details make it possible to define several phases. Anatolian statuettes, rarer and often fragmentary, do not allow a similar analysis.
Their use is different. The Cycladic woman is pregnant and protects her fecundity with her arms. The Anatolian woman holds her arms along the body and raises her forearms symmetrically towards the breast. The head slightly leaning backwards gave the nickname stargazer to the Anatolian type but no explanation is proposed for this attitude.
In both cases the figuration of the body is much stylized but the proportions are constant as if they met some artistic canon independent of the size of the statuette. They are undoubtedly artworks in the modern meaning of that word, in the category of the multiples.
The Anatolian woman has a heavy head shaped like a rugby ball placed over the frail cylinder of the neck which is an incontestable point of fragility. Almost all of them were broken at the neck and the experts conclude unconvincingly that they were used for ritual beheadings at the time of burials.
Two prestigious collections have sheltered an Anatolian idol in very good condition. The 20 cm high ex Schuster stargazer was sold for $ 1,8M by Christie's on June 8, 2005. The 23 cm high ex Guennol stargazer was exhibited on loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1966 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2007 and was sold for $ 14.5M on April 28, 2017 by Christie's, lot 12. Please watch the video shared by the auction house :
Christie’s to Sell $3m Guennol Stargazer in April https://t.co/zRmjjCWNkV pic.twitter.com/ao29KTzzlr
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) March 24, 2017
Shang Dynasty in Anyang
Intro
In terms of Shang ritual objects, the chronological mark is the tomb of Fu Hao, closed about 3,250 years ago and discovered untouched in 1976 with 1,800 objects in various materials that constitute a fabulous time capsule. Fu Hao was the consort of a Shang emperor who resided in the new 'Yinxu' capital of that dynasty in present-day Anyang.
The bronze achieved a tremendous development, both as the ideal material for making ritual utensils and also, already, as art. This alloy of copper and tin thus succeeded to pure copper whose resistance is lower.
Many different forms of vessels were used for keeping millet wine or cooking food. They are more or less carved depending on the social rank of their owner. The best known figure being the monster face named taotie. As in Egypt, these pieces often accompanied the burial of the dead.
Many archaic bronze shapes copy ceramic wares that predate Yinxu.
The bronze achieved a tremendous development, both as the ideal material for making ritual utensils and also, already, as art. This alloy of copper and tin thus succeeded to pure copper whose resistance is lower.
Many different forms of vessels were used for keeping millet wine or cooking food. They are more or less carved depending on the social rank of their owner. The best known figure being the monster face named taotie. As in Egypt, these pieces often accompanied the burial of the dead.
Many archaic bronze shapes copy ceramic wares that predate Yinxu.
1
Fangzun ex Fujita Museum
2017 SOLD for $ 37M by Christie's
Chinese history emerges from the mists of legend with the Shang dynasty that lasted more than five centuries. Bronze comes in supplement to the pottery and is used especially for ritual vessels. For the excitement of the archaeologists the Shang and Zhou bronzes have preserved a perfect condition thanks to a sufficient content of tin. Their finely incised decoration of tight mystical figures and motifs in reserves is neither corroded nor worn.
The long reign of Wu Din marks the culmination of the Shang around 3250 years ago. He resides in the new capital Yinxu which is today in the territory of the city of Anyang.
The tomb of Fu Hao, discovered in 1976, had never been visited by looters. This wife of Wu Din had a considerable political influence, even becoming the supreme general of the armies. Her tomb is a complete catalog of the art of the Shang, including 1800 pieces mainly in jade, bone, bronze and stone, not forgetting 6,900 cowry shells that served as money and 16 skeletons of sacrificed slaves.
The ritual bronzes of the Shang had a wide variety of shapes suitable for storage and cooking. The rites defined the quantities of sacrificial vessels authorized according to the social position. Under the Zhou who overthrew the Shang the king could use 9 ding and 8 gui while a nobleman was limited to 3 ding and 2 gui. The tomb of Fu Hao contained the incredible quantity of 200 ritual bronzes.
On March 15, 2017, Christie's dispersed the Chinese art collection of the Fujita Museum in Osaka, including four Shang bronzes : a fangzun, a fanglei, a pou and a gong. The catalog indicates for each of these pieces an acquisition prior to 1940 by the museum. Their similarity to the bronzes of Fu Hao and the comparable or sometimes superior quality of their technique and of their mystical decoration suggests that these four vessels came from a same royal tomb. They have kept their cover, except of course the zun which never has one.
Lot 523, sold for $ 37M from a lower estimate of $ 6M, was a 52 cm high vessel with a complex three-body shape. By its large flared mouth (zun) of square section (fang), it is a fangzun.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's to introduce the sale.
The long reign of Wu Din marks the culmination of the Shang around 3250 years ago. He resides in the new capital Yinxu which is today in the territory of the city of Anyang.
The tomb of Fu Hao, discovered in 1976, had never been visited by looters. This wife of Wu Din had a considerable political influence, even becoming the supreme general of the armies. Her tomb is a complete catalog of the art of the Shang, including 1800 pieces mainly in jade, bone, bronze and stone, not forgetting 6,900 cowry shells that served as money and 16 skeletons of sacrificed slaves.
The ritual bronzes of the Shang had a wide variety of shapes suitable for storage and cooking. The rites defined the quantities of sacrificial vessels authorized according to the social position. Under the Zhou who overthrew the Shang the king could use 9 ding and 8 gui while a nobleman was limited to 3 ding and 2 gui. The tomb of Fu Hao contained the incredible quantity of 200 ritual bronzes.
On March 15, 2017, Christie's dispersed the Chinese art collection of the Fujita Museum in Osaka, including four Shang bronzes : a fangzun, a fanglei, a pou and a gong. The catalog indicates for each of these pieces an acquisition prior to 1940 by the museum. Their similarity to the bronzes of Fu Hao and the comparable or sometimes superior quality of their technique and of their mystical decoration suggests that these four vessels came from a same royal tomb. They have kept their cover, except of course the zun which never has one.
Lot 523, sold for $ 37M from a lower estimate of $ 6M, was a 52 cm high vessel with a complex three-body shape. By its large flared mouth (zun) of square section (fang), it is a fangzun.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's to introduce the sale.
A Late Shang Dynasty Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel from the Fujita Museum sold for $37,207,500, a #worldauctionrecord for an archaic bronze. pic.twitter.com/VcxYG3BPkF
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 16, 2017
2
Fanglei ex Fujita Museum
2017 SOLD for $ 34M by Christie's
In the auction sale of the Chinese collection of the Fujita Museum by Christie's on March 15, 2017, lot 524, sold for $ 34M from a lower estimate of $ 5M, was a fanglei 63 cm high including its cover.
By comparison the Father Ji's fanglei, sold for $ 9.2M by Christie's in 2001, is 64 cm high without its lid which is lost. Ji's is dated from the Shang-Zhou transition two centuries later.
By comparison the Father Ji's fanglei, sold for $ 9.2M by Christie's in 2001, is 64 cm high without its lid which is lost. Ji's is dated from the Shang-Zhou transition two centuries later.
A Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel & Cover, Fanglei, from the Late Shang Dynasty from the Fujita Museum sold for $33,847,500 #AsianArtWeek pic.twitter.com/FIfq9JsYxm
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 16, 2017
3
Pou ex Fujita Museum
2017 SOLD for $ 27M by Christie's
In the auction sale of the Chinese collection of the Fujita Museum by Christie's on March 15, 2017, lot 525, sold for $ 27M from a lower estimated $ 4M, was a pou 57 cm high.
Its two-body shape with a round belly on a truncated cone base is archaic but its decoration is comparable to the other pieces in the sale.
Its two-body shape with a round belly on a truncated cone base is archaic but its decoration is comparable to the other pieces in the sale.
A Late Shang Dynasty Massive Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel and Cover, Pou, from the Fujita Museum sold for $27,127,500 #AsianArtWeek pic.twitter.com/v1HPYtI9BA
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 16, 2017
4
Ram Shaped Gong ex Fujita Museum
2017 SOLD for $ 27M by Christie's
The bronze art for Chinese vessels was diversified at the end of the Shang dynasty, from 3300 to 3050 years ago. The various shapes are adapted to their ritual uses. Li, yi, lei, fangyi, fanglei and hu examples were previously discussed in this column.
The gong and the zun may both become zoomorphic with a high degree of three-dimensional realism. The zun is designed for its ease of pouring, with a spout lined with broad lips. The gong or guang is an open vessel equipped with a removable lid over its entire upper surface.
On March 15, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 27M from a lower estimate of $ 6M a gong in the form of a ram 22 cm long, lot 526 estimated $ 6M. This piece is de-accessioned from the Fujita Museum in Osaka.
The back of the beast consists of the lid which is elongated to the superb head with its C-shaped horns. The body including the cover is embellished in shallow relief with the same traditional motifs as in the geometrically shaped vessels : taotie, stylized beasts. The thick legs ensure the stability of the vase above a stove. The back is surmounted by a dragon and a bird positioned like a handle.
The catalog of the auction house considers twelve other complete quadruped gong or zun examples of Shang period, all of them kept in museums : buffalos, elephants, fabulous animals, a boar, an elephant. The last one offered at auction was a buffalo zun in 1988.
Considering the sacred or sacrificial use of some of these animals, the extreme rarity of these pieces may surprise. It is probably due to a high difficulty of execution.
The gong and the zun may both become zoomorphic with a high degree of three-dimensional realism. The zun is designed for its ease of pouring, with a spout lined with broad lips. The gong or guang is an open vessel equipped with a removable lid over its entire upper surface.
On March 15, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 27M from a lower estimate of $ 6M a gong in the form of a ram 22 cm long, lot 526 estimated $ 6M. This piece is de-accessioned from the Fujita Museum in Osaka.
The back of the beast consists of the lid which is elongated to the superb head with its C-shaped horns. The body including the cover is embellished in shallow relief with the same traditional motifs as in the geometrically shaped vessels : taotie, stylized beasts. The thick legs ensure the stability of the vase above a stove. The back is surmounted by a dragon and a bird positioned like a handle.
The catalog of the auction house considers twelve other complete quadruped gong or zun examples of Shang period, all of them kept in museums : buffalos, elephants, fabulous animals, a boar, an elephant. The last one offered at auction was a buffalo zun in 1988.
Considering the sacred or sacrificial use of some of these animals, the extreme rarity of these pieces may surprise. It is probably due to a high difficulty of execution.
Christie’s NY to Offer Rare Chinese Art from Fujita Museum at 2017 Spring Sale https://t.co/Ag1ow96cfp #Auctions pic.twitter.com/5puxLHtGHv
— ARTINFO HongKong (@ARTINFOHongKong) October 23, 2016
879 BCE Nimrud Palace Bas Relief
2018 SOLD for $ 31M by Christie's
Archaeologists wanted to retrieve the lost Assyrian cities mentioned in the Bible. From 1845 Layard releases the ruins of a huge palace near the Tigris river. He believes that he found Nineveh. The palace name of Nimrud refers to a character identified in Genesis as a founder of cities. It will be later identified that the site explored by Layard was the most sumptuous palace of Kalhu which was the capital of the Assyrian empire from 879 BCE to 706 BCE.
Founded by Ashur-nasir-pal II over the ruins of a previous city at the time when the Assyrian empire claimed an ambition for a universal kingdom, Kalhu had been one of the greatest urban planning projects made in antiquity. The annual military campaigns of Ashurnasirpal were very efficient and the vanquished peoples supplied the work force for his constructions.
The 120 x 200 m palace excavated by Layard included many rooms separated from the inner courtyards by mud brick walls. About 400 shallow bas-reliefs in gypsum served as a base for these painted walls.
On July 6, 1994, Christie's sold for £ 7.7M an incomplete 183 x 117 x 6.4 cm bas-relief that had been presented by Layard to one of his sponsors. It displays a beardless eunuch and a winged bearded deity ready to serve the king, and has retained three-quarters of a standard cuneiform inscription recalling the achievements of the king supported by the gods. Layard had been authorized by the Grand Vizier to export his discoveries.
On October 31, 2018, Christie's sold a bas-relief 224 x 196 cm for $ 31M, as lot 101 . It is illustrated with a single full size standing figure in Egyptian profile, larger than life and complete. This winged bearded creature is busy anointing a tree of life. The piece includes a standard cuneiform inscription mingled in the image that recalls the achievements of the king supported by the gods.
Its mirror image is known. The pair served to flank a gateway for which our bearded deity was somehow the guardian angel.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's. A digital technology enables to reconstruct the original colors, known by traces of pigments on some of the reliefs.
Founded by Ashur-nasir-pal II over the ruins of a previous city at the time when the Assyrian empire claimed an ambition for a universal kingdom, Kalhu had been one of the greatest urban planning projects made in antiquity. The annual military campaigns of Ashurnasirpal were very efficient and the vanquished peoples supplied the work force for his constructions.
The 120 x 200 m palace excavated by Layard included many rooms separated from the inner courtyards by mud brick walls. About 400 shallow bas-reliefs in gypsum served as a base for these painted walls.
On July 6, 1994, Christie's sold for £ 7.7M an incomplete 183 x 117 x 6.4 cm bas-relief that had been presented by Layard to one of his sponsors. It displays a beardless eunuch and a winged bearded deity ready to serve the king, and has retained three-quarters of a standard cuneiform inscription recalling the achievements of the king supported by the gods. Layard had been authorized by the Grand Vizier to export his discoveries.
On October 31, 2018, Christie's sold a bas-relief 224 x 196 cm for $ 31M, as lot 101 . It is illustrated with a single full size standing figure in Egyptian profile, larger than life and complete. This winged bearded creature is busy anointing a tree of life. The piece includes a standard cuneiform inscription mingled in the image that recalls the achievements of the king supported by the gods.
Its mirror image is known. The pair served to flank a gateway for which our bearded deity was somehow the guardian angel.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's. A digital technology enables to reconstruct the original colors, known by traces of pigments on some of the reliefs.
Major consignment of ancient art: 3000-year-old Assyrian relief expected to raise over $10m at @ChristiesInc:https://t.co/0GZH2NTC1I pic.twitter.com/cGVQqtW7yk
— AntiquesTradeGazette (@ATG_Editorial) September 17, 2018
823 BCE Western Zhou, the Xi Jia Pan
2017 SOLD for RMB 213M by Xiling Yinshe
The Xi Jia Pan is a ritual bronze plate (also referred to as a basin or pan vessel) from the Western Zhou Dynasty, specifically dated to the fifth year of the Xuanwang Period (823 BCE).
The vessel measures 11.7 cm in height with a diameter of 47 cm, featuring a shallow, wide body and two handles on its sides. The interior bottom is engraved with an inscription of 133 Chinese characters—the longest known inscription on any Western Zhou bronze plate. The vessel was originally used for ceremonial ablutions or libations.
The inscription records the achievements and historical events involving Xi Jia (official name: Yin Jifu), a high-ranking official under King Xuan of the Zhou, who was also the primary compiler of China's earliest poetry anthology, The Book of Songs. It details his participation in military campaigns, land management, and border trade with minority groups, providing invaluable insights into the political, social, and military history of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
It was unearthed in the Song Dynasty and became a part of the imperial collection during the Southern Song Dynasty. The plate's feet were later broken. It was sold for RMB 213M by Xiling Yinshe on July 15, 2017. Its image is shared in the post sale release of the auction house. The sale was held in Hangzhou which had been the capital of the Southern Song.
The vessel measures 11.7 cm in height with a diameter of 47 cm, featuring a shallow, wide body and two handles on its sides. The interior bottom is engraved with an inscription of 133 Chinese characters—the longest known inscription on any Western Zhou bronze plate. The vessel was originally used for ceremonial ablutions or libations.
The inscription records the achievements and historical events involving Xi Jia (official name: Yin Jifu), a high-ranking official under King Xuan of the Zhou, who was also the primary compiler of China's earliest poetry anthology, The Book of Songs. It details his participation in military campaigns, land management, and border trade with minority groups, providing invaluable insights into the political, social, and military history of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
It was unearthed in the Song Dynasty and became a part of the imperial collection during the Southern Song Dynasty. The plate's feet were later broken. It was sold for RMB 213M by Xiling Yinshe on July 15, 2017. Its image is shared in the post sale release of the auction house. The sale was held in Hangzhou which had been the capital of the Southern Song.
