“…Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.”
— Excerpt from William Butler Yeates
SAILING TO BYZANTIUM
The very humble but beautiful objects shown here are all Byzantine. So little of the often overlooked or misunderstood Byzantine world and its material culture still remains that every antiquity of that great civilization should be treated with the greatest respect. The links below lead to pages on our website that, among other cultures, include Byzantine antiquities —
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c26_p1.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c21_p1.html

Additions to our Website

Earlier this week we uploaded a few really fine antiquities to our website. One has already sold. These all have great provenance. Here are images and links to these objects –

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i401.html 

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c14_p1.html

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i399.html

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i398.html

Clio Ancient Art: Who we Are

Clio Ancient Art and Antiquities was established by Chris M. Maupin with the aim of making the enjoyment of art and antiquities from the ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern worlds accessible to the widest possible audience.
Started in the San Francisco Bay Area and more recently relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, Clio Ancient Art utilizes Mr. Maupin’s academic background in archaeology and a life long interest in ancient art. He has traveled extensively in the Mediterranean world and visited countless archaeological sites in Italy, Greece, Egypt and other countries. With 25 years collecting experience, he has consulted for museums, academic institutions and private collectors, and has established a Trust that sets aside key pieces of ancient art for donation to museums building their own collections of Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities.
We live in a world obsessed with change that seems constantly to be reinventing itself. This wasn’t always so. For most of recorded history, change occurred slowly and this was especially true of art. Only rarely, as with Greek vase painting, did styles evolve rapidly.
Holding an object, however modest, from ancient Greece, Rome or Egypt and feeling a human connection to its maker can help ground us, briefly silence the din of modern life and put in perspective our own place in time.
Visitors to the Clio website sometimes ask why a distinction has been made between antiquities and ancient art. The answer lies in our modern perception of what art is and how we moderns perceive the ancient past. Many of the antiquities for sale here or on display in a museum were never intended to be viewed as art. These items may have served a utilitarian purpose, and may even have been ornamented by their makers to move them beyond the realm of the ordinary, but were not viewed as “art” in their own time. “Art” is an appellation we have ascribed to these objects, partly in reverence of their age and rarity. By contrast, other pieces on this site such as Roman marble sculpture, Attic and Greek South Italian vases or Luristan bronzes were clearly designed in their own time to serve much more than utilitarian needs.
Another question sometimes asked is “Why Clio?” Clio is the Muse of History and thus appropriate here. The Muses were companions of the god Apollo. Originally deities associated with springs, their number and functions changed over time but in the classical era it was finally determined there were nine Muses, each with her own unique character. Clio, whose name means “the proclaimer,” is most often depicted in Greek and Roman art with her attributes, the trumpet and clepsydra (a device for measuring time).
Clio Ancient Art and Antiquities is a member of the Association of International Antiquities Dealers (AIAD), a not-for-profit international association of antiquities dealers, ancient art and numismatic dealers and others keen to promote the positive aspects of antiquities ownership. The organization promotes responsible antiquities dealing and provides a support network and means of exchanging information about fakes, forgeries, misrepresentation and stolen goods with a view to identifying such items offered for sale and notifying appropriate authorities. AIAD promotes responsible trading in antiquities, which includes meeting all legal requirements concerning reporting and documentation, and its members adhere to its Code of Conduct.
Visit our website at: http://www.clioancientart.com