Sold for €1,950
including Buyer's Premium
Published: Massimo Vidale, Treasures from the Oxus: The Art and Civilization of Central, page 75, fig. 61.
Oxus Civilization. The stone of a greenish-black color, the staff of long cylindrical form tapering on one side.
Provenance: Axel Vervoordt Art & Antiques, Antwerp, Belgium. Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from above in 2003. A copy of the original invoice addressed to Mr Paolo Bertuzzi, dated 30 July 2003, and stating a purchase price of EUR 6,800 or approx. EUR 11,500 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Axel Vervoordt (born 1947) is a Belgian antiques and art dealer, collector, and interior designer. He founded his company in Antwerp in 1969, and in 1998, he and his family acquired an industrial site which they turned into a small green town that offers spaces for art and exhibits works by renowned artists such as Anish Kapoor, James Turrell, Marina Abramovic, Otto Boll, and Tatsuo Miyajima. Vervoordt further designed several spaces for, among others, Robert de Niro, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition commensurate with age showing expected old wear and traces of use, obvious losses, some chips, few encrustations, and natural fissures.
Dimensions: Height 110 cm
The Oxus Civilization or Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), recently dated to c. 2250-1700 BC, is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age civilization of Central Asia, previously dated to c. 2400-1900 BC, by Sandro Salvatori, in its urban phase or integration era. Though it may be called the “Oxus civilization”, apparently centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River) in Bactria, most of the BMAC’s urban sites are actually located in Margiana (modern Turkmenistan) on the Murghab river delta and the Kopet Dagh mountain range. There are a few later sites in northern Bactria (c. 1950–1450 BC), the territory of southern Uzbekistan, but they are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site, known as Dashli, lies in southern Bactria, the territory of northern Afghanistan. Sites found further east, in southwestern Tajikistan, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them. BMAC sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi when he was excavating in northern Afghanistan between 1969 and 1979. Sarianidi’s excavations revealed numerous monumental structures in many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were mostly confined to Soviet journals. A journalist from The New York Times wrote in 2001 that during the years of the Soviet Union, the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi’s work began to be translated in the 1990s.
The precise use of these objects found in graves at Gonur in Margiana, in the cenotaphs of Sibri near Mehrgarh (Pakistan) and at Tepe Hissar and Shahdad in eastern Iran, is still unknown: they must have been used for some specific task, because their functional end, as a rule is worn, and finally deposed in the graves after the funeral.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related ritual object with cylindrical shaft tapering then flaring towards the flat ends illustrated in M.-H. Pottier, Matériel Funéraire de la Bactriane Méridionale de l'Age du Bronze, Paris, 1984, pp. 16, pl. V, fig. 7, no. 31.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 2 July 2018, lot 40
Price: GBP 15,000 or approx. EUR 23,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Bactrian stone idol, circa 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.
Expert remark: Compare the related form and note the larger size (138 cm).
Published: Massimo Vidale, Treasures from the Oxus: The Art and Civilization of Central, page 75, fig. 61.
Oxus Civilization. The stone of a greenish-black color, the staff of long cylindrical form tapering on one side.
Provenance: Axel Vervoordt Art & Antiques, Antwerp, Belgium. Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from above in 2003. A copy of the original invoice addressed to Mr Paolo Bertuzzi, dated 30 July 2003, and stating a purchase price of EUR 6,800 or approx. EUR 11,500 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Axel Vervoordt (born 1947) is a Belgian antiques and art dealer, collector, and interior designer. He founded his company in Antwerp in 1969, and in 1998, he and his family acquired an industrial site which they turned into a small green town that offers spaces for art and exhibits works by renowned artists such as Anish Kapoor, James Turrell, Marina Abramovic, Otto Boll, and Tatsuo Miyajima. Vervoordt further designed several spaces for, among others, Robert de Niro, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition commensurate with age showing expected old wear and traces of use, obvious losses, some chips, few encrustations, and natural fissures.
Dimensions: Height 110 cm
The Oxus Civilization or Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), recently dated to c. 2250-1700 BC, is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age civilization of Central Asia, previously dated to c. 2400-1900 BC, by Sandro Salvatori, in its urban phase or integration era. Though it may be called the “Oxus civilization”, apparently centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River) in Bactria, most of the BMAC’s urban sites are actually located in Margiana (modern Turkmenistan) on the Murghab river delta and the Kopet Dagh mountain range. There are a few later sites in northern Bactria (c. 1950–1450 BC), the territory of southern Uzbekistan, but they are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site, known as Dashli, lies in southern Bactria, the territory of northern Afghanistan. Sites found further east, in southwestern Tajikistan, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them. BMAC sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi when he was excavating in northern Afghanistan between 1969 and 1979. Sarianidi’s excavations revealed numerous monumental structures in many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were mostly confined to Soviet journals. A journalist from The New York Times wrote in 2001 that during the years of the Soviet Union, the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi’s work began to be translated in the 1990s.
The precise use of these objects found in graves at Gonur in Margiana, in the cenotaphs of Sibri near Mehrgarh (Pakistan) and at Tepe Hissar and Shahdad in eastern Iran, is still unknown: they must have been used for some specific task, because their functional end, as a rule is worn, and finally deposed in the graves after the funeral.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related ritual object with cylindrical shaft tapering then flaring towards the flat ends illustrated in M.-H. Pottier, Matériel Funéraire de la Bactriane Méridionale de l'Age du Bronze, Paris, 1984, pp. 16, pl. V, fig. 7, no. 31.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 2 July 2018, lot 40
Price: GBP 15,000 or approx. EUR 23,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Bactrian stone idol, circa 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.
Expert remark: Compare the related form and note the larger size (138 cm).
Our online bidding platform makes it easier than ever to bid in our auctions! When you bid through our website, you can take advantage of our premium buyer's terms without incurring any additional online bidding surcharges.
To bid live online, you'll need to create an online account. Once your account is created and your identity is verified, you can register to bid in an auction up to 12 hours before the auction begins.
When you register to bid in an online auction, you will need to share your intended maximum spending budget for the auction. We will then review your intended spend and set a bid limit for you. Once you have pre-registered for a live online auction, you can see your intended spend and bid limit by going to 'Account Settings' and clicking on 'Live Bidding Registrations'.
Your bid limit will be the maximum amount you can bid during the auction. Your bid limit is for the hammer price and is not affected by the buyer’s premium and VAT. For example, if you have a bid limit of €1,000 and place two winning bids for €300 and €200, then you will only be able to bid €500 for the rest of the auction. If you try to place a bid that is higher than €500, you will not be able to do so.
You can now leave absentee and telephone bids on our website!
Once you've created an account and your identity is verified, you can leave your absentee bid directly on the lot page. We will contact you when your bids have been confirmed.
Once you've created an account and your identity is verified, you can leave telephone bids online. We will contact you when your bids have been confirmed.
You can still submit absentee and telephone bids by email or fax if you prefer. Simply fill out the Absentee Bidding/Telephone bidding form and return it to us by email at office@zacke.at or by fax at +43 (1) 532 04 52 20. You can download the PDF from our Upcoming Auctions page.
How to Create Your Personal Zacke Account
How to Register to Bid on Zacke Live
How to Leave Absentee Bids Online
How to Leave Telephone Bids Online
创建新账号
注册Zacke Live在线直播竞拍(免平台费)
缺席投标和电话投标
We partner with best-in-class third-party partners to make it easy for you to bid online in the channel of your choice. Please note that if you bid with one of our third-party online partners, then there will be a live bidding surcharge on top of your final purchase price. You can find all of our fees here. Here's a full list of our third-party partners:
Please note that we place different auctions on different platforms. For example, in general, we only place Chinese art auctions on 51 Bid Live.
You must register to bid in person and will be assigned a paddle at the auction. Please contact us at office@zacke.at or +43 (1) 532 04 52 for the latest local health and safety guidelines.