When we featured the Guennol Lioness as the WorldWide in our November/December 2007 issue of BAR, it was expected to sell for as much as $18 million at auction— an amazing amount, considering the figurine stands just over 3 inches high— but when the auctioneer’s gavel finally banged at Sotheby’s on December 5, 2007, $18 million ended up being the price per inch.
With a final bid of $57 million, the Guennol Lioness (actual size) set a new record for the highest 015price ever paid for a sculpture at auction, smashing the previous record of $29 million, set by Pablo Picasso’s bronze “Tete de Femme,” which was also auctioned at Sotheby’s earlier in 2007.
The elegantly carved limestone lion, which dates to the proto-Elamite period (c. 3000–2800 B.C.) and was found in modern-day Iraq, may once have been worn as a pendant.
The figurine had been on loan at the Brooklyn Museum from owners Alastair and Edith Martin for almost 60 years. The proceeds from the sale will benefit a charitable trust set up by the Martins.— D.D.R.
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The Biblical Archaeology Society announces two prizes of $10,000 each for the best academic papers presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), to be held next November in Boston.
The John Mancini Prize, named for John Mancini of Albuquerque, New Mexico, will be awarded for the best paper on the Archaeology of Early Christianity and the Patristic Period.
The other prize of $10,000 is supported by a contribution from Sami Rohr of Bal Harbour, Florida, who made it a condition of his support that the prize be named for BAR editor Hershel Shanks. The Hershel Shanks Prize will be awarded for the best paper on the Archaeology of Late Antique Judaism and the Talmudic Period.
ASOR is the premier American professional organization of Near Eastern scholars and archaeologists.
A paper may be nominated by the presenter or anyone else. A copy of the paper must be sent to the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of BAR, by January 31, 2009. In order for the prize to be awarded there must be at least three entries for the applicable prize. All decisions of the judges will be final. The winners will be announced in BAR.
When we featured the Guennol Lioness as the WorldWide in our November/December 2007 issue of BAR, it was expected to sell for as much as $18 million at auction— an amazing amount, considering the figurine stands just over 3 inches high— but when the auctioneer’s gavel finally banged at Sotheby’s on December 5, 2007, $18 million ended up being the price per inch. With a final bid of $57 million, the Guennol Lioness (actual size) set a new record for the highest 015price ever paid for a sculpture at auction, smashing the previous record of $29 million, set by […]
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