1 ½ col 3marble…

Marble female head, Greek Hellenistic, circa Third–Second Century BC.

1 ½ col  5limestone…

Limestone head of a cow, Egyptian, New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, 1540–1295 BC.

MUST FOR 10/19

RUPERT WACE TO SHOW AT BASEL ANCIENT ART FAIR NOV. 2–7 w/2 cuts

avv/gs set 10/10 #715395

BASEL, SWITZERLAND — Works of art spanning three millennia from throughout the ancient world will be offered by Rupert Wace Ancient Art at the fourth staging of the Basel Ancient Art Fair (BAAF) which takes place November 2–7 in the Wenkenhof, an Eighteenth Century mansion at Riehen just outside Basel.

Fifteen leading international dealers in antiquities from five countries will exhibit at BAAF. All exhibitors are members of the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA) who abide by a strict code of ethics guaranteeing the authenticity of everything they sell and exercising extensive due diligence regarding provenance.

The spare geometric elegance of the oldest piece to be shown by Rupert Wace, a Cycladic female figure dating from around 2700–2500 BCE, gives it a modernist quality. The elegantly proportioned torso is finely carved with arms folded below small conical breasts. The light golden patina to the translucent white marble lends the sculpture a delicate luminosity.

Exhibiting the same delicate Greek workmanship, but from more than 2,000 years later, is a Hellenistic polychrome terracotta head of a woman dating from around the Third to the First Century BCE.

Another Egyptian piece, dating from New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, 1540–1295 BCE, is a limestone head of a cow. The softly contoured head has a gentle feminine cast suggestive of the Hathor cow.

An Egyptian polychrome limestone female ushabti, dating from the New Kingdom, Ramesside period circa 1250–1150 BCE, was acquired in the early Nineteenth Century for a private British collection. Unshabtis played  an important role in Egyptian culture. Considered servants of the dead, they were placed in the tomb to work for the deceased in the next world.

An Etruscan bronze handle, circa early Fifth Century BCE from a private Swiss collection, shows the sophistication of the Etruscan civilization.

Visit www.rupertwace.co.uk or call 44 0 20 7495 1623 for information.