Artemis Gallery Controversy? Damn Right! Item Number: 100006 $0.00

DescriptionIf any of you are members of the Yahoo Ancient Artifacts Group, you're probably already familiar with the controversy stirred up by Artemis Gallery during the course of our live auction a week or so ago. For those who may have missed it, the abbreviated version goes something like this... Lot #263 “A Very Rare Egyptian Mummified Foot.” We sold it on behalf of a fellow dealer during our live auction. It sold for $6,000 plus buyer's premium to a collector in the United States (you could almost say someone spent an arm and a leg to get it, but that might be pushing the bounds of decent humor). It sold in complete compliance with all laws pertaining to the sale of such items. End of story... not quite.

To say that this one, single live auction sale brought down upon us a hail-storm of bad press, ill-will, nasty sentiments, you name it, would be a gross understatement; in particular, one member of the ancient artifacts group, Paul Barford, made it his solitary goal to vilify Artemis Gallery, and myself in particular, in any and every way possible (the topic is still being discussed almost daily on the forum!) It’s been said that any PR is good PR (at least the public relations experts say it), but I’m not so sure I would agree with those pundits after this last week.

Upon reflection, maybe it’s time that we remember the true nature of what our passion – this insanity called antiquity collecting – is really about. First and foremost, if you collect ancient art, you cannot escape the fact that death is involved. The individual who made each AUTHENTIC example of ancient art is long dead, the original owner is long dead - in fact, no less than 100 generations have probably come and gone since any of your items of ancient art were made. But, that is really only a small part of the story – as Paul Harvey would say – and now, the rest of the story…

The brutal and honest truth comes down to this – almost every piece of ancient art that we or any other dealer buy or sell has some direct funerary context. I know you may find that hard to believe, so let’s go down the list, shall we?

Egyptian Ushabtis – Buried with the dead

Most Greek Pottery – Found in tombs (often along with human remains!)

Most/Much Apulian Pottery – Made specifically for the tomb!

Most Etruscan Pottery – Found in tombs

Most Roman Pottery – Found in tombs

Most Roman Glass – Found in tombs

Roman and Greek Stellae – Grave stones

Most Roman and Greek Bronzes – Found in tombs

Most Egyptian Artifacts – Found in tombs

West Mexican Pre-Columbian Pottery – Found in shaft tombs

Most Peruvian Artifacts – Found in tombs

Most Mayan Artifacts – Found in tombs

Most Pre-Columbian Artifacts – Found in tombs

Many examples of ancient Peruvian handiworks were made from bone - human bone!

Ancient Peruvian Textiles – Wrapped around dead bodies! And all that staining – you guessed it. That is/was part of the dead body!

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Personally, I see very little difference between collecting a human mummified foot and collecting Pre-Columbian textiles stained with the blood and guts of its original owner – and having it nicely framed on your wall!! And trust me, if you’ve ever had the “pleasure” of smelling a piece of ancient fabric before it has been cleaned, it’s not a smell you will soon forget!

I’m not trying to reduce the pleasures involved in collecting ancient art. I’m especially not trying to reduce my sales by turning people off from buying ancient art, but we all can use a sanity check every now and then. If you are really squeamish about all this death stuff, perhaps collecting ancient art is not for you. On the other hand, if you don’t dwell on such things, and have never been one to be worried about “bad karma” and bad “JuJu” coming from your art, keep on collecting. Who knows? In a couple thousand years maybe someone will be bidding on a part of you at auction – and in my case, I hope I’m worth a fortune!

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you!
Bob Dodge