Antiquities authentication and valuation: the thrill of examining long forgotten collections

It’s always a thrill when a new customer contacts me out of the blue to examine a group of objects for purposes of authentication or valuation or for help with bringing the collection up for sale. Often these are objects that have been passed down from parents or grandparents, and just as often the current owner has no way of knowing if the objects are genuine antiquities, fakes or modern tourist pieces.

Egyptian scarabs, amulets and beads forming part of a large California collection formed in the 1940s and 50s

 

From the same old California collection, a group of fine Roman intaglio gemstones.

I do sometimes have to disappoint a customer, informing them that what they thought was a collection of Egyptian mummy masks, for example, is really cheap “airport art” made for sale to European or American tourists fifty years ago. But just as often I find myself privileged to examine their collections in their homes, sometimes from dusty boxes that haven’t been opened in many years or in the recesses of dark basements or garages. Very often the task can be completed simply by examining digital images.

A large and exceptional Etruscan terracotta head, probably depicting Mercury. Northern California collection formed in the 1960s.

 

Egyptian Middle Kingdom amethyst necklace. Southern California private collection, 1950s.

Superb 2nd Century AD Roman bronze Isis.

Well preserved Greek South Italian terracotta antifex. 4th Century BC.

I can’t begin to count the number of objects or large groups of objects I’ve examined in person or online or actually handled. Enjoy these images of just a handful of the exceptional antiquities and groups of objects I’ve had the good fortune to work with over the past eight years. Please feel free to contact me if you need my antiquities consulting services, for authentication, valuation or help with bringing the objects to sale. Our standard rate is $50 per hour or fraction thereof. We also offer consignment of your objects for sale with a 25% commission.

Late Dynastic Egyptian stone head of a Pharaoh.

 

Part of a very large Colorado private collection of Holy Land oil lamps formed in Israel / Palestine / Jordan in the 1960s.

Roman marble head of a Putti or Cherub, detached from a larger sculpture.

A small Roman bronze figure of Eros.

A small pottery pyxis, Athens, 4th Century BC.

Freshly cleaned of dust in a basement where they’d lain for 40 years, a group of 3 well preserved Roman glass vessels.

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