A number of stunning ancient Greek artifacts are to go under the hammer next week at a Christie’s auction, including a large Cycladic female figure and an Attic red-figured kylix, estimated at nearly one million dollars each.
The antiquities auction, set to take place in New York on February 4, 2025, features 83 lots in total. They include Greek, Egyptian and Roman ancient artifacts like marble figures and fragments, jars, helmets, vessels and even a wooden coffin lid. Among the auction’s items for auction are also a number of impressive ancient Greek gold jewelry, mostly from the Hellenistic times.
The large Cycladic marble female figure dates back to 2,500 BC and, according to the auction house, comes from a private collection. It is estimated between $700,000-$900,000 and is the most high-priced item among the four Cycladic artifacts in total set for auction. “This impressive Cycladic marble female figure exemplifies the best of the Spedos style, exhibiting the balance and elegance of the form,” Christie’s explains on its catalogue while adding that the figure has an extensive surviving red pigment on the front of the body “as well as ghosts along the upper portion of the head that were probably once painted blue.”
The ancient Cycladic culture flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from around 3300 to 1100 BC. Cycladic art comprises one of the three main branches of Aegean art, and the best-known artwork that has survived is the marble figurine, most commonly a single full-length female figure, with arms folded across the front.
A rare ancient Greek kylix to be auctioned for nearly one million
The Attic red-figured kylix (a drinking cup used in formal occasions, like a symposium in ancient Greece) is also estimated between $700,000-$900,000 and dates to the early 5th century BC -the golden age of Attic red-figured wine cups. What makes it so unique is that, according to Christie’s, it is “a masterpiece by the Brygos Painter…one of the foremost artists of the era, richly ornamented with scenes from daily life as witnessed by elite society.”
The auction house adds that “Nearly twenty cups or cup-fragments with the inscription Brygos Epoiesen (Brygos made me) are known.”
Dazzling ancient Greek gold jewelry are highlights of the auction
In what Christie’s calls “buzzworthy art,” the auction house highlights a number of ancient Greek gold jewelry as “top lots.”
Among them is a pair of gold Attic earrings, dating to 750-725 BC, estimated between $10,000-$15,000. Only a small number of related gold earrings dating to the Geometric period are known, Christie’s says and all are thought to have been made in Attica.
The other lots include a Greek gold strap necklace, a Greek gold and glass finger ring and another pair of impressive Greek gold and enamel earrings, which are ornamented with bird pendants and date to the Hellenistic times. They are estimated between $10,000-$15,000.
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