By Mackie Healy

Antiquities dealers are expecting fierce competition tomorrow when a rare 1st century A.D. marble relief depicting the Roman Emperor Tiberius sells at Christie’s in New York. The piece is projected to sell for more than $3 million, link here.

The sculpture captures a solemn, toga-draped Emperor standing with two other figures. The piece was an Imperial commission, perhaps for an altar or other monument, according to Christie’s.

Documented provenance is crucial in the antiquities field. The relief was acquired by Arturo Moya Moreno of Seville in the 1950s, according to Christie’s catalog. The work is sold with a Spanish export license from the Ministry of Culture.

Emperor Tiberius stands before a muscular seated ‘Genius’ figure bearing a scroll, which scholars believe to be an important law or treaty. Concordia, the goddess of agreement and understanding, stands between Tiberius and Genius.

Other sale highlights include a late 1st century B.C. bronze lamp stand of a Roman youth, estimated to go for $800,000 to $1.2 million, and the Egyptian Diorite Head of an Official from 380-343 B.C., which tagged $500,000-$700,000.

The auction record for an antiquity sold at auction is held by a 3-inch tall statue, the Guennol Lioness, which sold for $57 million at Sotheby’s in 2007 to an unnamed private collector.