January 2007 Friends, collectors, colleagues and ancient art lovers, Welcome to the "Sasson Ancient Art" web site. The website has been updated now with a variety of New Ancient Objects, in the different category sections, and you can view them all together in the New Ancient Objects section. The New Ancient Objects have been selected from the recent acquisitions of the Sasson Ancient Art gallery, and reflect the characteristics of the gallery collection: they are of fine artistic quality, of good condition of preservation, and with special charm that make them fine ancient works of art. The Israelite terracotta bust of the fertility goddess Astarte (- IsX003) is a fine sculpture of the Israelite Period (Iron Age II – 1000-586 BC, The First Temple Period – Age of the Kings in the Land of Israel). The divine majestic, yet calm expression of the face of the goddess is in contrast to the provocative posture exposing the exaggerated large breast, which emphasizes her fertility characteristics. Figurative art in a Jewish context at ancient times is a complicated subject. It is an historical and archaeological fact, that this type of sculpture has been worshiped by Jewish people in the Land of Israel at the period. Has this sculpture been made by the Jews, or for the Jews? Could it be related to Jewish Art? The Graeco-Roman bronze figurine of Isis-Aphrodite (- GrB023) is a fine sculpture of the Greek Classical tradition, of the goddess of love Aphrodite, representing the ideal feminine beauty , fused with attributes of the Egyptian goddess Isis, to create a syncretistic goddess of the Hellenistic culture. This fine work of art reflects the idea of the Hellenistic culture to combine the Greek culture with local eastern cultures in order to form the new culture. The bronze figurine is of good size, fine style and fine condition with a beautiful rich patina. The Hellenistic bronze figure of a dancing Nubian youth (- GrB024) is a sculpture with special charm and beauty: the expressive and lively dancing movement of the youth, created by the very fine style, Uffizi Gallery A later bronze copy reflects the joy of the dance in an emotional way. It may be compared with dancing satyr in the famous Hellenistic marble group of “The Invitation to the Dance”, the Roman copy now in the Uffizi Gallery. Both are also using the same musical instruments in their hands and feet. The Roman bronze group figurine of Pan and a goat (- RB018) is a sculpture with the beauty and charm of the later Roman style. Pan, god of the shepherds and herds, with his goat horns and legs, is walking with the goat as his pet, moving forward in harmony. It seems that Pan and the goat love each other, and there is pleasure in the expression of their faces and movement, which may be compared with the famous Roman marble group of Pan and the goat, in Naples museum. The Sidonian cobalt blue glass hexagonal “Birds” flask (- SidG009) dated to the 1st century AD., is a fine and rare example of ancient art in glass. Early mold blown glass vessels with Classical figurative relief decoration have the artistic significance combined with the beauty of the ancient glass. Eretz Israel Museum, Tel-Aviv Corning Museum, N.Y. This flask belongs to the series of Sidonian hexagonal flasks with relieves of Classical motives, and is of the more rare types of the series. The flask is finely molded with clear details, and the color is fine cobalt blue with silvery iridescence. The mold pattern of the lower register recalls the glass works of the glass master artist Ennion, from Sidon. The Roman yellow glass lentoid flask (- RG032) is a fine example for a Roman glass classical shape. It is of a rare golden yellow color combined with green glass twin handles, perfectly modeled and with extremely beautiful iridescence. The Sassanian bluish-green cut glass small bowl (- NEG001) is a fine example for an artistic cut glass vessel of the Late Roman period. The glass bowl is perfectly made in fine proportions and well balanced, with delicate cutting of the glass to form the design in a very precise way. The glass bluish-green color, resembles the Aquamarine gemstone color, is beautifully adorned with the rich multicolor iridescence. The small bowl has a facet on top of the rim, which might suggests that it had a lid, which made it a pyxis (– a small cosmetics box). I hope you will enjoy viewing these objects, as well as the others in the site. I would like to emphasize again the absolute guarantee to the authenticity, condition report and the legal provenance of all the objects of the Sasson Ancient Art gallery collection. All objects are legally registered in the Israel Antiquities Authority inventory, and are approved for export from Israel by the Authority, with the certificate of IAA Export Approval. If you wish to have any further information, I would be pleased to send it to you. Gideon Sasson Back to the top Contact Home Introduction Near Eastern and Egypt Art Classical Art Pre-Roman and Roman Glass Biblical Antiquities Early Jewish and Christian Art Ancient News ---------- Site Production: Icons Ltd.