Italian government releases funds for Pompeii amid new damage to site

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26443808

The Italian government - or more correctly, successive Italian governments - should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. When will they step up and do their own fair share, particularly in light of the amount of revenue cultural tourism generates in Italy annually? For so many years now the EU and mainly American and British philanthropic institutions have done all the heavy lifting.

For our friends and followers in our old home town of San Francisco and beyond...

http://www.ancientartcouncil.org/program/03-22-14

Clio Ancient Art Valentine's Sale

Hello Customers, Friends and Fans of Clio Ancient Art:

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we are holding a sale on selected antiquities. This sale ends 7:00 PM Saturday, February 15.

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES (coins not included), 15% OFF

56 items to select from in stone, ceramic, bronze and glass. You can find these here –

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c15_p1.html

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c16_p1.html

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c17_p1.html

ANCIENT JEWELRY AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT, 15% OFF

36 items, Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine, Medieval European and early Islamic, in silver, bronze, faience, enamel and glass. You can find these here –

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c19_p1.html

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c19_p2.html

BOOKS, CATALOGS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS, FRAMED AND UNFRAMED ART, 15% OFF

24 items available. You can find these here –

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c25_p1.html

As always, thanks for looking.

Best wishes,

Chris M. Maupin
Clio Ancient Art and Antiquities
Chris Maupin Trust for Ancient Art
PO Box 7714
Wilmington, NC 28406
Phone: 704-293-3411
Web: http://www.clioancientart.com/

Babylon 1947

This faded, tattered old picture is something more personal than our usual offerings here at Clio Ancient Art: A 1947 photo of my extended family, on my mother’s side, on a day trip to visit the ruins of Babylon. They are gathered around, and on, the guardian lion at the Ishtar Gate, carved from basalt and dating to the 6th Century BC.

Is it any wonder I pursued archaeology in academia and later became an antiquities dealer?

Much has changed in the world of archaeology, and in the legitimate antiquities trade, since this image was taken. The very scene where this was taken has undergone dramatic changes, none of them for the better, and not one person in this image is still alive. But whatever tumult this lion of Babylon has seen in the last few decades is certainly no worse than what had come before.

Perhaps this stone lion is a reminder to us of the valuable lessons history has to offer, and the beautiful handiwork of human creativity, if we are prepared to stop and examine the past without sectarian, nationalist, ethnic or religious prejudice.

Scholars Discover New Poems from Ancient Greek Poetess Sappho

Link to this story - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/28/scholars-discover-new-poems-from-ancient-greek-poetess-sappho.html

Byzantine Church, Mosaic Found in Israel

http://www.haaretz.com/.premium-1.570046

Collecting Ancient Coptic / Byzantine Textiles

The colorful textile above is a fragment from a Coptic Egyptian ecclesiastical garment depicting saints and biblical figures and dating to the 7th Century AD, now in The British Museum. Thanks to exceptionally dry conditions, many types of artifacts made from perishable materials that would not survive elsewhere are common finds on Egyptian archaeological sites. Between the late 18th and early 20th Century great numbers of ancient Egyptian textile fragments from all periods were retrieved by local Egyptian treasure hunters and artifacts dealers for sale to foreign visitors, by foreigners conducting their own ad-hoc “excavations” and by archaeologists, often excavating using methods that would by today’s standards be considered little more than treasure hunting.

While textiles of all types, from the most humble garments to the most elaborate, and from every period of Egypt’s long history have been preserved in the dry environment, Coptic textiles are a class unto themselves. In common parlance, use of the term “Coptic” here refers both to the time period from which these textiles date – corresponding to the roughly 300 year period of Byzantine rule in Egypt – and the Christian culture that created them, as the Coptic Church, still very much alive today in Egypt, gives its name to both the ancient and modern Coptic culture. This uniquely Coptic textile style continued on in Egypt long after the Islamic conquest of the 7th Century AD.

Many Coptic textile fragments, and in some cases entire garments, have since found their way into museum collections. This has somewhat reduced the number of high quality examples available on the legitimate art market. But many fine examples can be acquired from the major London and New York auction houses and reputable antiquities dealers in Europe and the North America.

Our own website offers a small but quality selection of Coptic textiles:

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i284.html

The example above is a large 5th-7th Century fragment featuring human, animal and geometric decorations. It has been sewn on a linen backing for mounting and custom framed. A brief description in modern Arabic from a late 19th – early 20th Century Cairo dealer enhances its value.

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i285.html

This 5th – 7th Century example, from the same old collection, is also framed and features complex foliate and geometric patterns.

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i176.html

Finally, this 4th – 7th Century example features a broad band of highly abstracted animal forms, including fish, birds and rabbits, with lovely deep red borders.

Some of the finest examples of Coptic weaving, which was generally made in linen and wool, were reserved for ecclesiastical garments. The 5th – 7th Century fragment pictured below, now in The British Museum, depicts a cross and bird; the bird may have been part of an allegory of the seasons, thus combining ancient pagan and the newer Christian iconography.


 
There are excellent print and online resources for the student or collector of ancient Coptic textiles.  The Coptic Tapestry Albums & The Archaeologist of Antinoe, Albert Gayet  by Nancy Arthur Hoskins, is a very accessible, lavishly color illustrated guide to the collection amassed by the controversial French psuedo-archaeologist Albert Gayet in the late 19th Century. It describes Coptic textile production techniques as well as offering insight into how collections of these objects were built in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Two online resources that we recommend are the Rietz Collection of Coptic textiles in the California Academy of Sciences – http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/coptic/Collection.htm – and the Indiana University Museum’s small but excellent online collections – http://www.iub.edu/~iuam/online_modules/coptic/cophome.html.