Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art Part I

Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art Part I

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 1. A South Arabian Alabaster Head of a Woman, Qataban, 3rd Century B.C./1st Century A.D..

Property from the Collection of the late Antonin and Christiane Besse

A South Arabian Alabaster Head of a Woman, Qataban, 3rd Century B.C./1st Century A.D.

Auction Closed

December 7, 04:32 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Collection of the late Antonin and Christiane Besse

A South Arabian Alabaster Head of a Woman, Qataban

3rd Century B.C./1st Century A.D.


with slender neck, long nose, large eyes recessed for inlay, grooved arched eyebrows, and semi-circular ears in relief.

Height 26.5 cm.


reputedly from Beihan, probably from Hayd ibn 'Aqil, the necropolis of ancient Timna'
Antonin Besse (1927-2016) and Christiane Besse (1928-2021), Aden and Paris, acquired in Yemen in the 1960s, collection number CB47 (recorded for export to France by the Department of Antiquities, Aden State, in May 1967)
by descent to the present owner
For a related example see Sotheby's, New York, June 20th, 1990, no. 109 (see S. Antonini, La statuaria sudarabica in pietra, Paris and Rome, 2001, p. 143, E34, pl. 87).