By Carter B. Horsley

The Antiquities auction at Christie's December 7, 2006 has a sensational mummy with its complete encasements that are extraordinarily beautiful and in wonderful condition. The auction also has several other museum-quality works.

Lot 26, it is a painted sycamore fig wood sarcophagus and mummy from the Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty XXI, circa 990-940 B.C. The sarcophagus is 74 3/4 inches long and has been consigned by the Western Reserve Historical Society, which was given it by Liberty E. Holden, the publisher of The Plains Dealer in Cleveland who had acquired it from Sheik Mahmud Hassan, an antiquities dealer in Luxor, Egypt, in 1900.

"At the time the mummy was named Othphto, a fantasy name likely coined by the Luxor dealer....As was the fashion since the early 19th Century, the coffin was ceremoniously opened and the mummy partially unwrapped in the Society's auditorium. A partial reading of the inscriptions led to the mummy's identificantion as Djed-Khons-Iwef-Ankh, but it is now clear the Neshkons was the original owner of the sracophagus," the catalogue states.

"The ancient Egyuptians had long built lavish tombs, beginning the Old Kingdom (2575-2134 B.C.) and continuing into the New Kingdom (1550-1070 B.C.). The walls of these tombs were embellished with beautifully painted or sculpted scenes. However, toward the end of the Ramesside period at the end of the New Kingdom, such tombs, royal and private, became the focus of relentless despoliation. This lead, during the Third Intermediate Period, to the use of caches for burials. These caches were often located within temple enclosures. The focus of mortuary provisions shifted from the tomb walls to the coffins. The best examples from this period have brilliantly painted scenes, often with fine minute detail; they are the most extravagant sarcophagi ever produced in ancient Egypt. Dozens of Third Intermediate Period sacrocophagi for priests of Amun are known, now mostly residing in museums around the world. .....The texts of this sacrophagus inform that the deceased, Neskhons, served as a Stolist, one who performs a ritual for anointing, clothing and otherwise potentiating the cult-image of the god in his Temple," the catalogue entry for this lot continued.

This spectacular lot, not surprisingly, has an "estimate on request." It sold for $1,136,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

Lot 20 is a very charming Egyptian blue faience dog that is 2 3/8 inches long and in reasonable good condition. It is dated to the Middle Kingdom, Dynasty XII-Early Dynasty XIII, 1991-1600 B.C. A larger blue faience hippopotamus is the "mascot" of the Metropolitan Museum and such objects are the stars of any collection. This lot has a modest estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $26,400.

Lot 27 is a fine Egyptian bronze of Atum, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty XXI-XXII, 1070-712 B.C. It is 14 5/8 inches high and has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $192,000.

Lot 32 is a very fine Egyptian bronze of Harpokrates on a lotus, Late Period to Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C. It is 10 3/8 inches high. It has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $38,400.

A larger and equally wonderful animal figure is another jewel in this auction. Lot 44, it is a Mesopotamian marble and lapis lazuli cow, Late Uruk-Jemdet Nasr Period, circa 3300-2900 B.C. It is 4 1/8 inches long. It was once in the collection of Dr. Elie Borowski. It has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $168,000.

Lot 47 is a Neo-Sumerian copper figure of Ur-Nammu, Third Dynasty of Ur, reign of Ur-Nammu, 2111-2094 B.C. The figure is 10 5/8 inches high and depicts the king with his arms raised above his head holding a basket of earth to make bricks for the construction of a temple and the catalogue notes that "by placing the figure, or multiple figures, in the temple, the king is preserved as perpetually present in the temple he erected, and forever in the act of serving the deity therein." The catalogue entry also states that "several identical figures of Ur-Nammu are known, two excavated at Uruk; one from the Enlil temple in Nippur, now in Baghdad...; one on the British Museum; one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art....; and one in the Burrell collection, Glasgow." The lot has an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. It sold for $374,400.

Lot 46 is an excellent Bactrian white stone idol of a birdman, circa 3rd Millennium B.C. The figure is 4 1/2 inches high and has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $33,600.

Lot 123 is a magnificent Roman bronze figure of Polykleitos's "Diskophoros" that is dated to the Julio-Claudian period, circa late 1st Century B.C./1st Century A.D. The figure, which is missing its right hand and an implement that had been held in the left hand and has a hole between its shoulder blades, is 12 inches high. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $284,800. The catalogue entry notes that Polykleitos "was one of the most famous and influential Greek sculptors of the High Classical Period" and was "a native of Argos in the Peloponnesus...[and] flourished circa 460-420 B.C....None of the master's original works are known to have survived, but several are recognized in Roman copies." The catalogue also notes that the "disk-thrower" type of statue "was very popular with the Romans as evinced by the numerous life-sized copies in marble that survive, some of which were used as portrait statues, There are also a number of versions in samller scale in bronze, such as the present example."

Lot 109 is an excellent Hellenistic bronze, circa 2nd-1st Century B.C., of a satyr. It is 4 5/8 inches high and is missing its right arm. It has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $12,000.

Lot 138 is a gorgeous Roman marble torso of a god or victorious athlete that is dated circa 1st-2nd Century A.D. It is 5 3/4 inches high. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $54,000.

Lot 149 is a good Roman North African marble marriage sarcophagus panel, circa 3rd Century A.D. It is 70 1/8 inches long and has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $284,800.

Lot 145 is an impressive Roman marble head of an Olympian. It is dated circa 2nd Century A.D., and is 14 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $70,000 to $80,000. It sold for $102,000.

Lot 126 is a very good Roman marble head of a man that is 11 1/4 inches high and is dated circa 1st Century A.D. The head has a very distinctive personality. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 134 is an excellent Roman marble portrait head. It is dated circa late 1st Century A.D., and is 10 inches high. It has a modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $96,000.

Lot 111 is a graceful and very attractive Hellenistic bronze of Eros that is dated circa 1st Century B.C. The statue is missing its left hand and is 9 inches high. It was once in the collection of Mathias Komor of New York. It has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 108 is a superb pair of terracotta horses in full gallop, one 10 and the other 11 inches high, Greek, Canosan, Hellenistic Period, circa 3rd Century B.C. The lot was once in the Barbara Johnson Collection. It has a modest estimate of $7,000 to $9,000. It sold for $54,000.