A recent antiquities sale at Christie’s New York Live Auction 21709 ANTIQUITIES LOT 161 was for “A GREEK AMETHYST RINGSTONE WITH A BUST OF A GODDESS”
It was interesting for a couple of reasons.
First, it has a certain familiarity because it was chosen to be the cover girl for J. Boardman and C. Wagner’s 2018 publication, “Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present”, London. The book published the entire collection of Giorgio Sangiorgi (1887-1965), a renowned collector. The piece was reviewed in the book, p. 132, no. 120. It was dated to 2nd – 1st century B.C. “The inscription names the owner (Amyntas is a royal Macedonian name).”
Second, its recent sale history. The intaglio first came up for sale at Christie’s New York 2019 LIVE AUCTION 17695“MASTERPIECES IN MINIATURE: ANCIENT ENGRAVED GEMS FORMERLY IN THE G. SANGIORGI COLLECTION” LOT 24, selling for $112,500, over three times the high estimate. The entire sale was remarkable in that most of the 40 lots sold for well over their high estimates with one piece (“A ROMAN BLACK CHALCEDONY INTAGLIO PORTRAIT OF ANTINOUS”) going to the Getty for over two million dollars.
The AMETHYST RINGSTONE again came up for auction at Christie’s New York 12 OCTOBER 2021 | LIVE AUCTION 19992 Antiquities, but apparently failed to sell; it was not listed in the results catalogue. The estimate range was USD 50,000 – USD 70,000.
Then, it came up again at the recent auction, Christie’s New York Live Auction 21709 ANTIQUITIES LOT 161, without a reserve and sold for $50,400.
There is no public record readily available concerning who bought the gem at the 2019 auction, nor who sold it at the recent auction. The Christie’s 2023 catalog only stated, “PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK CITY PRIVATE COLLECTION”. Why the drop in price? Could be that the first auction in 2019 created an excitement in the bidding environment that day that somewhat inflated the sales prices above “normal” market. Who knows? Probably just the variations in the market.
There was another gem (“A GREEK BANDED CARNELIAN SCARABOID WITH A HORSE“) that was in the 2019 sale, selling for $37,500, that was also in the 2023 auction, selling for $25,200. It too was in the 2021 sale with an estimate range of $30,000 – $50,000, but also apparently failed to sell.
There is one thing we do know – prices do not always go up.
