An Egyptian Basalt Jar, Predynastic Period, Naqada I/II, circa 4000-3200 B.C.

Harmakhis, Brussels

William Moerenhout, Antwerp, acquired from the above circa 1990

Akanthos Ancient Art, Antwerp, acquired by the present owner from the above in 2001

Published

exhibition vademecum,"Cinquantenaire", Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, 1991, no. 59, illus. 

Cf. G. D. Scott, III, Ancient Egyptian Art at Yale, New Haven, 1986, No. 7, a closely related example with rim carved in one piece with the body.

In a warm, comfortable, and welcoming home, somewhere in a Medieval town on the plains of Flanders, lies an art collection now over twenty years in the making. Sunk in an armchair in the cozy reception room, with its wood floor, high ceiling, and wide windows opening onto an intimate patio, one feels reassured by this familiar setting, steeped in northern European Gemütlichkeit. Then one’s eyes start to wander from shelf to shelf, from tabletop to tabletop, and there begins a mostly mineral imaginary voyage, across the ages and down to sunnier climes. Scattered among the bookshelves, spanning the millennia, Egyptian, Roman, and other objects assembled there reveal a deep passion for stone (in Dutch, steen) as an artistic medium of choice, be it polished to a sheen or broken with jagged edges, richly veined and coloured or monochrome. A few of them are made of bronze and wood, providing textural contrast and diversity. Body parts, torsos, fragmentary heads stand in silent conversation with vessels of all forms, as well as with books and contemporary works on the walls. Egypt talks to Rome, Western Asia to Southern Arabia. Sotheby’s is happy to present a selection of objects from this thoughtful and highly individual collection.