Roman marble head of Apollo sold for $902,500 at Christie's on June 9, 2011

By Eric Russ, Art Market Views contributor

Christie’s June 9 antiquities sale failed to match the success of Sotheby’s sale a day earlier. The event included 202 lots, a third of which failed to sell, including many of the highest estimated lots. The sale tallied $10.4 million, towards the lower end of the projected $9 million to $14 million range.

The bright spots included a few Roman works. A Roman bronze head of Hercules, circa 1^st century A.D., exceeded a $50,000 high estimate and sold to a phone bidder for $140,500.  Next followed a Roman marble head of a handsome Apollo, circa late 1^st-early 2^nd Century A.D., which sold for an $902,500, triple the high estimate.

Next  up was a Roman marble head of Venus, circa 1^st-2^nd century A.D., sold to a man in a light red button-down shirt, standing at the back of the room where dealers tend to hover, for $422,500, more than double the high estimate.

The top price was paid for a headless Roman marble statue of Isis, circa 1^st-2^nd Century A.D. which went for $962,500, above the $800,000 high estimate.  She stands, right leg forward, her dress cascading in graceful ripples.

Of thirty Egyptian lots offered, eleven failed to find buyers – a sell through rate consistent with the overall sale.  Key pieces included an Egyptian granite head of an official, dating from the New Kingdom, Late Dynasty XVIII, circa 1400-1390 B.C. selling for $422,500 to a phone bidder. The significant Egyptian works sold well. Echoing the success at Sotheby’s a day earlier.

Cramping the sale total, many of the big lots did not sell, including a Roman marble group depicting Pan and Hermaphrodite, circa 1^st century A.D. Described as “Estimate on Request,” the piece failed to draw interest beyond a single absentee bidder at $1.2 million.

Three of the top ten estimated lots did not find buyers, including a Roman marble Venus, circa 2^nd Century A.D., and a Cypriot limestone portrait head of a queen from the Hellenistic Period, circa 3^rd-2^nd Century B.C.

Roman marble Isis sold for $962,500 at Christie's on June 9, 2011