The antiquities crowd was abuzz this weekend about the top lot at Sotheby’s Thursday night sale: a marble depiction of Leda and the Swan, circa 2nd century Rome, fetched $19.1 million. The presale estimate was $2- to $3 million. (Pictured at left)
Sotheby’s said four bidders competed furiously for the piece, which came from Aske Hall (below), a Georgian estate in North Yorkshire, England. It was listed as the property of the 3rd Marquess of Zetland Will Trust, and was recently “rediscovered” there — though it had been the property of Zetland since 1789, the year George Washington was inaurgurated as President.
Hence, no running afoul of the current strictures on antiquities collecting, which puts a pox on anything whose provenance was unknown before 1970.
Yet the piece was unknown to scholars; Sotheby’s says it appears in none of the major surveys of ancient marble sculpture in English country houses, nor anything else. And though the subject figures in several other ancient marbles, this one appears to be in the best condition. See the Sotheby’s catalogue entry, here, for more information.
Sotheby’s listed the buyer as “anonymous,” but speculation among antiquities curators and collectors suggests that the piece will stay in Europe.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Museum of Art* purchased the second most expensive lot: it paid nearly $3.6 million for a marble head of Zeus, circa 120-160 A.D., estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million. It, too, had an uncontroversial provenance. Sotheby’s says it was on the market in Rome in 1931, was received as a gift by the Art League of Daytona in 1954,and ended up in the collection of Dodie Rosenkrans, who lent it to the Met, from March 2007 to April 2008.
Quite a nice addition to the collection, no?
Whether the Leda will soon be shown in a public collection remains to be seen — it probably wasn’t purchased by one, but a couple of sources suggest that the buyer has close ties to more than one museum in Europe.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Sotheby’s, top and bottom
*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met