2 - AN EGYPTIAN ALABASTER PILGRIM FLASK, NEW KINGDOM, DYNASTY XVIII-XIX

AN EGYPTIAN ALABASTER PILGRIM FLASK, NEW KINGDOM, DYNASTY XVIII-XIX Egypt, circa 1550-1186 BC. Exquisitely carved, the globular body of lenticular section with sharply defined edges, rising to a high angled shoulder set with subtly modeled twin duck-head handles and surmounted by a short waisted neck with a flat disk rim. The finely polished, translucent stone is of a creamy ivory-white tone with attractive pale brown and white banding. Provenance: Collection of Herbert Bier, London, thence by descent. Christie’s London, 6 July 2016, lot 108 (sold for GBP 5,000 or approx. EUR 8,300 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Herbert Bier (1905-1981) was a German-born art dealer who established a distinguished career in London and played an important role in the international art trade of the mid-twentieth century. Born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Frankfurt, he moved with his family to Berlin after the First World War and was introduced to the art trade by his uncle, the prominent Frankfurt dealer Zacharias M. Hackenbroch (1887-1937). During his apprenticeship, Bier developed an extensive knowledge of European art and the art market through periods of study and work in Paris, Munich, Dresden, Florence, and London, as well as assistantships at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin and the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. He emigrated to London in 1936, where he initially established a branch of Hackenbroch’s business and, following the death of his uncle in 1937, continued independently. From his office in St. James, which he shared with the Russian art dealer Vitale Bloch (1900-1975), Bier cultivated an extensive international network of dealers, curators, collectors, and museums. Travels in the United States with Bloch in 1937 and 1939 enabled him to study museum collections and establish relationships with curators, thereby developing a detailed understanding of gaps in both public and private collections. These connections flourished after the Second World War, and Bier supplied works to major institutions in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He also maintained close professional relationships with fellow dealers and specialists, among them the émigré scholar and Old Master drawings expert Edmund Schilling (1888-1974). The surviving archive of Bier, now held by the Wallace Collection in London, provides an important record of his activities and of the international networks that shaped the twentieth-century art trade. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, a minuscule chip and few minute nibbles to the rim, the stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into fine hairline cracks. Weight: 270 g Dimensions: Height 9.6 cm Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s London, 1 October 2015, lot 138 Price: GBP 5,000 or approx. EUR 8,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: An Egyptian alabaster jar, New Kingdom, 18th-20th dynasty, circa 1550-1069 BC Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, and stone with similar flat disk rim. Note the similar size (11.5 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s London, 5 July 2024, lot 116 Price: GBP 7,200 or approx. EUR 6,700 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: An Egyptian alabaster jar, New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, circa 1550-1295 BC Expert remark: Compare the related stone and manner of carving, with similar banding. Note the size (13 cm). Due to length restriction on Drouot this entry is shortened. For full description please visit www.zacke.at.