WORLD RECORD FOR CUNEIFORM CLAY DOCUMENT AT BONHAMS ANTIQUIETIES SALE IN LONDON

SCULPTED MARBLE PANEL MAKES £490,400 IN STRONG £3.2M ANTIQUITIES SALE AT BONHAMS 

WORLD RECORD FOR A CUNEIFORM CLAY DOCUMENT AT BONHAMS

Classical sculpture new to the market after decades in the ownership of Sir Daniel Donohue, a Californian businessman and philanthropist, sold outstandingly well at Bonhams Antiquities sale on April 13^th in New Bond Street.

Of the 62 lots consigned by the Donohue Collection 60 sold. The top item in the Collection was the front cover lot, a sculpted panel showing a chariot and four horses being driven by figures believed to be the gods Aphrodite and Mars. The panel sold for £490,400. The sale made a total of £3.2m.

Madeleine Perridge, Head of Antiquities at Bonhams says: “The Donohue Collection was a remarkable monument to Sir Daniel and Countess Bernadine’s passion for collecting. They filled their houses and gardens with stunning pieces of ancient sculpture from over-life-size marble goddesses, to small finely cast bronze figures. The top item in the sale, the charioteer panel achieved an unprecedented price. We knew we had something special, hence the decision to put it on the front cover.”  Another 800 items from the Donohue Collection was a `white glove’ 100% sold success in another Bonhams sale in LA earlier this month.

WORLD RECORD FOR A CUNEIFORM CLAY DOCUMENT

In the London sale yesterday the second highest item, a Mesopotamian terracotta cuneiform cylinder sold for £264,000, believed to be a world record for a cuneiform clay document. The  Babylonian cylinder, circa 604-562 B.C. of barrel form with a central hole inscribed with two columns each composed of 18n lines of text for Nebuchadnezzar II King of Babylon recorded the restoration of the sun-god Shamesh in Sippur. The cylinder is from the collection of Dr Edgar Banks who was Field Director of the Babylonian Expedition and American Consul to Bagdad in 1937. More recently it was the property of a New England museum to whom it was gifted prior to 1990.

An Egyptian glass and steatite male head sold for £198,000. This beautiful object in red and black dates from the New Kingdom, late 18^th Dynasty circa 1336-1327 B.C. The modern history of this piece starts with its acquisition by Sir Neville Lubbock (1839-1914) in 1862/3 and thence by descent to the current seller.

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further four throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go towww.bonhams.com