Friday 13 June 2014

Salon Point Art, more than just paintings

Opportunity to see ancient artefacts

Here at maBoum, we enjoy visiting museums and monuments, imagining what it was like to live in ancient times. We're fascinated by mummified remains, and have an urge to touch the rough stones of centuries old edifices that were touched by the hands of our ancestors.

So we were quite excited to see that one of the galleries at this weekend's Salon Point Art fine arts fair is exhibiting some ancient Egyptian objects, Roman mosaics and bronze age artefacts.

Phoenix Ancient Art is a an influential world trader in rare, high quality antiques. Established in 1995, the family business has outlets in New York and Geneva, and attended Salon Point Art Monaco in 2013 and 2012. This year the gallery has brought to the Principality a selection of objects from ancient Mediterranean civilizations and long lost Eurasian cultures, the sorts of things we'd have to travel to a major museum to see.

One of the exhibits is an Egyptian faience ushabti of Imhotep from 664-525 BC. It stands 23.3 cm tall and is exquisitely carved. Our guide, the incredibly knowledgable managing director Michael Hedqvist, explained that there are many of these funerary figures already to be seen in museums around the world, and still more that lie buried with their owners. He showed us colourful Egyptian necklaces, a bronze age warrior bracelet, and an outstanding Hellenistic jewellery set, made of gold, emerald and garnet. It would look as fabulous today, if worn at a Monaco gala dinner, as it surely did when worn by its original owner.

Forgive us, dear reader. We spent so much time with Phoenix Ancient Art, that we had no time to review the paintings by Chagall and Warhol. You'll just have look at those yourself.

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