Featured Ancient ... but not a coin! Artifacts thread! Post 'em!

@Mikenwuf, there are also some dealers on MA-Shops who sell ushabtis, most of them costing $500-$1,000 and up. (Nice ushabtis, on average, cost more than many other types of Egyptian antiquities. If you see a nice one -- as opposed to a crude, faceless lump -- for sale for less than the prices I mentioned, it's probably fake.) And there are quite a few reputable antiquities dealers on the Trocadero platform, in their ancient art section. One antiquities dealer on Trocadero I can recommend is Mark Goodstein of Explorer Ancient Art. There are plenty of reputable antiquities dealers on the Internet with independent websites whose inventory may include ushabtis from time to time and from whom I've made purchases -- Helios Gallery (UK), Medusa Ancient Art (Montreal), Hixenbaugh (NYC), antiquities.co.uk. [Christopher Martin] (needless to say, UK!), Artemis (Colorado), Ancient Resource [Gabriel Vandevort] (California). etc. -- although they tend on average to be more expensive than some of the antiquities one can find on VCoins or MAShops.

I'd be mildly hesitant about Zurqieh in Abu Dhabi (on VCoins) who sells lots of small, inexpensive Egyptian antiquities, given some of his "improvements" of genuine ancient coins.

Artemission in London is a major antiquities dealer who has been accused more than once of selling occasional fakes (oil lamps, etc.) sprinkled among the genuine antiquities -- whether intentionally or through negligence -- and of misattributing some genuine antiquities. So be careful.

Before buying any ushabtis from anyone, please study Bron Lipkin's extremely valuable website pages on fake vs. real ushabtis (and many other types of antiquities). Page 1 of the ushabtis section is at http://www.collector-antiquities.com/real-or-fake/fake-egyptian/fake-ushabtis.html. Dr. Lipkin also has an antiquities shop at the same website, specializing in smaller and less expensive antiquities. See http://www.collector-antiquities.com/shop/gallery.html. He has several unsold antiquities currently available. See http://www.collector-antiquities.com/shop/gallery.html?pcat=20.

And please stay away from the sea of fake ushabtis and other fake antiquities on ebay, unless you're sure the dealer is reputable. Ushabtis are often either entirely fake, or an unscrupulous dealer will take a genuine uninscribed ushabti and apply a fake inscription, either copied from a genuine inscription or simply made up nonsense.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I think that these are Aztec and were made as a kind of offering. About 15 years ago, I bought a ziplock bag of odds and ends (mostly rocks) at an estate sale for around $2 and found these, along with a few more.

 

@Mikenwulf, not long ago, I asked @Alegandron and @DonnaML specifically about where to find affordable ushabtis and scarabs. @Alegandron recommended
Timeline Auctions,
- Time Machine,
- Ken Dorney (CT Member and Dealer).
@DonnaML recommended someone else --a little more upscale, but not scary. And, Rats, I can't find her recommendation in the Conversations. But the one I wound up with was from The Time Machine, on Vcoins. It was less than $150; nice later dynastic period (c. 20th-25th), and generally very satisfactory.

 

Thanks. @DonnaML, for coming to the rescue!

 

I mentioned the one I recommended to you -- Bron Lipkin's website. And please post a photo of the scarab (or whatever it was) that you bought!

I forgot to mention Ken Dorney on VCoins, but he does also always have a nice selection of antiquities in addition to the ancient coins he sells.

 

..i dig your Dali

 

They remind me a little of the only pre-Columbian artifacts I own: four small pre-Columbian Heads, Michoacan, Mexico, pre-classic period, ca. 400-100 BCE, ranging from 1" to 1 1/4" high. I bought them when I was in high school in the 1970s for about $25 for the four, and had them identified in 1987 when I had all the antiquities I then owned appraised for insurance purposes. Until then, I had no idea if they were real or not.

 

To @DonnaML's point, the range of pre-Columbian societies (cultures / political polities) in what's now Mexico is kaleidoscopic. Too long ago, I had some pottery sherds, and other little bits of sculpture in the same medium. Wholly unattributed. Which, in itself, is a profound disservice to the artifacts themselves.

 

Faience coloured scarab from approx 600 BC.



Skythian spearpoints from ca. 500 BC and about 200 BC found in what is now Ukraine. These may have also doubled as a form of proto-money.

 

I think these are Scythian arrowheads instead of spear points. Maybe unsharpened versions are used as proto-money.

 

I would say the average educated American has heard of the Aztecs and Mayans in Mexico, and that's about it. Perhaps the Olmecs and Toltecs?

 

Thank you, some of That! But Olmecs and Toltecs are only further over on the same, top shelf of what-all was going on.

 

I had seen a TV documentary a couple of years ago which described an area in Mexico where these tiny heads and figures were produced by the thousands to be sold as offerings to an Aztec deity. The process was described as clay being pressed into molds, then baked in the sun. In some cases the fingerprints of the workers was pressed into the back of the figurines. So, I naturally checked my pieces, but none had the prints.
Just like coins, I speculate and imagine the history associated with each piece.

 

For only Mexico maybe people are also familiar with the Zapotecs. However I would say, for many U.S. folk, there is scant knowledge about most of these civilizations.

 

Does anyone know how much time is spent learning about them in school in Mexico?

 

..prolly not more than Juan or two days...

 

Sorry -- I don't like that kind of joke.

 

ok..no more jokes for you then...

 

IDK, but my thinking is that education centers mostly on Mayan and Aztec because of the preponderance of displays and the pride the Mexican people seem to have about their heritage and those two civilizations. But, I could be wrong.

 

Bottom line is, if the Spaniards didn't prominently conquer 'em, they don't matter. That applies equally to cultures that had already disappeared (Olmecs, for one), and ones the Spaniards summarily mowed over. Eurocentrism 101.