The Guennol Lioness, a tiny and extremely rare 5,000-year-old white limestone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia sold for 57.2 million dollars in New York on Wednesday, smashing records for both sculpture and antiquities(AFP/HO/File)
Posted on 12/05/2007 6:20:09 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (AFP) - A tiny and extremely rare 5,000-year-old white limestone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia sold for 57.2 million dollars in New York on Wednesday, smashing records for both sculpture and antiquities.
The carved Guennol Lioness, measuring just over eight centimeters (3 1/4 inches) tall, was described by Sotheby's auction house as one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands.
"It was an honor for us to handle The Guennol Lioness, one of the greatest works of art of all time," Richard Keresey and Florent Heintz, the experts in charge of the sale, said in a joint statement.
"Before the sale, a great connoisseur of art commented to us that he always regarded the figure as the 'finest sculpture on earth' and it would appear that the market agreed with him," they said.
Five different bidders, three on the telephone and two in the room, competed for the sculpture. The successful buyer was identified only as an English buyer who wished to remain anonymous.
The sale easily broke the previous record for the highest price for a sculpture at auction, which had stood at 29.1 million dollars and was set just last month at Sotheby's in New York by Picasso's "Tete de Femme (Dora Maar)."
It also beat the 28.6 million dollars paid for "Artemis and the Stag," a 2,000-year-old bronze figure which sold also at Sotheby's in New York in June and held the record for the most expensive antiquity to be sold at auction.
Described by Sotheby's as diminutive in size, but monumental in conception, The Guennol Lioness was created around 5,000 years ago -- around the same time as the first known use of the wheel -- in the region of ancient Mesopotamia.
The piece was acquired by private collector Alastair Bradley Martin in 1948 and has been on display in New York's Brooklyn Museum of Art ever since.
Keresey described the work before the sale as "one of the oldest, rarest and most beautiful works of art from the ancient world."
"This storied figure, in its brilliant combination of an animal form and human pose, has captured the imagination of academics and the public since it was acquired by the Martins in the late 1940s," he added.
The figure depicts a standing lioness looking over her left shoulder, her paws clenched in front of her muscular chest.
Experts have speculated that the figure may have played a role in some ancient belief system or mythology in Mesopotamia, which today lies in parts of modern day Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.
The proceeds of the auction are to go to a charitable trust formed by the Martin Family.
The Guennol Lioness, a tiny and extremely rare 5,000-year-old white limestone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia sold for 57.2 million dollars in New York on Wednesday, smashing records for both sculpture and antiquities(AFP/HO/File)
wow!
I’d give maybe $10. Maybe.
Hardly a primitive society - we tend to think 'civilization' started with Rome - but they were the beneficiaries of societies before them - the Myceneans, for one...and the Minoans before them.
This seems to be an exciting age for discovery of and about 'lost' civilizations. Sometimes I wonder if we are the 'advanced' civilization or are we merely playing catch-up?
Impressive. I’ve never seen this before.
I’d buy it from you for $20.
That piece is beautiful. Glad someone who will love and protect it is willing to put up the cash to do so.
Cool, doubled my money in 10 minutes.
It would appear that Mesopotamia had a football team.
Da Bears.
It’s 3 1/2 inches long. You could drill a hole in it and make a keychain out of it :>)
Do anything you want with it, as long as you don’t name it “Mohammed”.....
It’s beautiful!
LOL
Can you imagine paying $57 million for something you could hold in the palm of your hand? That is clearly a work of genius, though, and a beautiful piece. Such works make me wonder how many great works have been lost.
"Carving these little towers out of old limestone I found in Iraq is much easier than that lion I did last week. Maybe some tourist will buy these as well."
2) I will probably see if i can have a copy made from this picture (though not from limestone but from soapstone)
3) And why does the Thundercats Cartoon, as well as Monday Night Football, keep on playing in my head?
How do they know it is 5000 years old? Did they find it in Helen Thomas’s attic? But seriously, did they date the limestone? maybe the rock is that old but I wonder how they kno when it was carved. I guess it came with a certificate of authenticity from the Franklin Mint.
“The proceeds of the auction are to go to a charitable trust formed by the Martin Family.”
“How do they know it is 5000 years old?...”
They knew it was that old in 1948. It is now 5059 years old.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.