21st Nov, 2025 13:00
Fine Antiquities & Ancient Art
8
AN EXPRESSIVE BLACK BASALT HEAD OF A MALE OFFICIAL, MIDDLE KINGDOM, DYNASTY XII-XIII
€3,000
€6,000
A buyer’s premium of 30.00% (including VAT) applies to the hammer price of this lot if your bid is successful.
Egypt, 1981-1640 BC. Finely carved, the face with a stern expression, the wide eyes with a thick outline and sharply pointed cosmetic lines extending out towards the temple, below slightly arched brows carved in relief, all above the thick lips curved into a tight smile. The head covered by a striated wig set low on the forehead and tucked behind the ears.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, commensurate with age. Natural fissures, obvious losses, extensive rubbing, scattered nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Provenance:
- With Le Père & Associates, New York, 1980s.
- The private estate of Mr. Norbert Choucroun (1925-1996), Houston, acquired from the above on 13 September 1985.
- The private collection of Will L. McLendon, Houston, acquired from the above in 1996.
James E. LePere (1936-1990) was a New York gallerist whose boutique, Le Père & Associates, was located on 3 East Third Street. He made several notable donations to the Walters Art Museum and Minneapolis Institute of Art together with his wife.
Will Loving McLendon (1925-2025) was professor of French literature and linguistics beginning at Texas Tech, then at S. M. U., and for the major part of his career at the University of Houston for 38 years, where he served for nine years as chairman of the French Department. He was awarded the Palmes Académiques by the French Ministry of Education in 1965 and later promoted to the rank of Officier for his publications and other contributions to the advancement of French culture. Dr. McLendon published three books and over 25 articles in both French and English in American and international literary journals. He received the Master Teacher Award from the University of Houston in 1990. Upon retirement from professional duties in 1991 as Professor Emeritus, Will assumed business activities with his partner of 47 years, Norbert Choucroun (1925-1996), the owner of Norbert Antiques de France, and from whom he acquired the present lot upon his death. Will and Norbert were generous patrons of the arts in Houston and were especially devoted to Houston Grand Opera and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
A copy of an invoice from Le Père & Associates, dated 13 September 1985, confirming the dating and provenance above, accompanies this lot.
Weight: 434 g (excl. stand), 605.4 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 6.4 cm (excl. stand), 12.3 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated wood stand. (2)
While this small head still carries features held over from the late XIIth Dynasty royal portraits, the narrow eyes and small smiling mouth belong in Dynasty XIII. French Egyptologist Jacques Vandier has argued that the head covering, which is of a type common throughout the Middle Kingdom, may be a striped kerchief worn over a wig, shaved head or natural hair, like a private person's version of the royal nemes headcloth.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related black granite head of a male official, dated to the 18th dynasty, possibly Third Intermediate period, 14.9 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA66836. Compare a closely related granodiorite head and shoulders of a male statue, Middle Kingdom-Early New Kingdom, dated to ca. 1981-1550 BC, 15.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 66.99.65. Compare a related, slightly later, head of a man, Dynasty XIII, dated to 1786-1650 BC, 2.7 cm tall, illustrated by Janine Bourriau, Pharaohs and Mortals, Egyptian Art in the Middle Kingdom, 1988, p. 56, no. 44.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 4 June 1999, lot 218
Price: USD 18,400 or approx. EUR 30,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Middle Kingdom granite head of a man, Dynasty XII
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar expression and striated wig. Note the size (10.9 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 4 February 2025, lot 8
Price: USD 20,160 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian granodiorite portrait head of a man, Middle Kingdom
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and expression, striated wig, and similar size (7.9 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 29 April 2019, lot 105
Price: USD 43,750 or approx. EUR 47,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian basalt figure of a man, Middle Kingdom, circa late 12th-13th dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar expression and striated wig. Note the size (15.9 cm).
Egypt, 1981-1640 BC. Finely carved, the face with a stern expression, the wide eyes with a thick outline and sharply pointed cosmetic lines extending out towards the temple, below slightly arched brows carved in relief, all above the thick lips curved into a tight smile. The head covered by a striated wig set low on the forehead and tucked behind the ears.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, commensurate with age. Natural fissures, obvious losses, extensive rubbing, scattered nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Provenance:
- With Le Père & Associates, New York, 1980s.
- The private estate of Mr. Norbert Choucroun (1925-1996), Houston, acquired from the above on 13 September 1985.
- The private collection of Will L. McLendon, Houston, acquired from the above in 1996.
James E. LePere (1936-1990) was a New York gallerist whose boutique, Le Père & Associates, was located on 3 East Third Street. He made several notable donations to the Walters Art Museum and Minneapolis Institute of Art together with his wife.
Will Loving McLendon (1925-2025) was professor of French literature and linguistics beginning at Texas Tech, then at S. M. U., and for the major part of his career at the University of Houston for 38 years, where he served for nine years as chairman of the French Department. He was awarded the Palmes Académiques by the French Ministry of Education in 1965 and later promoted to the rank of Officier for his publications and other contributions to the advancement of French culture. Dr. McLendon published three books and over 25 articles in both French and English in American and international literary journals. He received the Master Teacher Award from the University of Houston in 1990. Upon retirement from professional duties in 1991 as Professor Emeritus, Will assumed business activities with his partner of 47 years, Norbert Choucroun (1925-1996), the owner of Norbert Antiques de France, and from whom he acquired the present lot upon his death. Will and Norbert were generous patrons of the arts in Houston and were especially devoted to Houston Grand Opera and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
A copy of an invoice from Le Père & Associates, dated 13 September 1985, confirming the dating and provenance above, accompanies this lot.
Weight: 434 g (excl. stand), 605.4 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 6.4 cm (excl. stand), 12.3 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated wood stand. (2)
While this small head still carries features held over from the late XIIth Dynasty royal portraits, the narrow eyes and small smiling mouth belong in Dynasty XIII. French Egyptologist Jacques Vandier has argued that the head covering, which is of a type common throughout the Middle Kingdom, may be a striped kerchief worn over a wig, shaved head or natural hair, like a private person's version of the royal nemes headcloth.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related black granite head of a male official, dated to the 18th dynasty, possibly Third Intermediate period, 14.9 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA66836. Compare a closely related granodiorite head and shoulders of a male statue, Middle Kingdom-Early New Kingdom, dated to ca. 1981-1550 BC, 15.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 66.99.65. Compare a related, slightly later, head of a man, Dynasty XIII, dated to 1786-1650 BC, 2.7 cm tall, illustrated by Janine Bourriau, Pharaohs and Mortals, Egyptian Art in the Middle Kingdom, 1988, p. 56, no. 44.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 4 June 1999, lot 218
Price: USD 18,400 or approx. EUR 30,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Middle Kingdom granite head of a man, Dynasty XII
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar expression and striated wig. Note the size (10.9 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 4 February 2025, lot 8
Price: USD 20,160 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian granodiorite portrait head of a man, Middle Kingdom
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and expression, striated wig, and similar size (7.9 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 29 April 2019, lot 105
Price: USD 43,750 or approx. EUR 47,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian basalt figure of a man, Middle Kingdom, circa late 12th-13th dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar expression and striated wig. Note the size (15.9 cm).
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Auction: Fine Antiquities & Ancient Art, 21st Nov, 2025
🎥 NEW: WATCH 13 INSIGHTFUL VIDEOS FROM OUR EXPERT
With our auction Fine Antiquities & Ancient Art on November 21, 2025, Galerie Zacke opens a new chapter.
After decades of specialization in the arts of Asia —from Japan, China, and Southeast Asia through Afghanistan and the Eurasian steppes to the Arabian Peninsula—we now take a step westward. This premiere is dedicated to the great cultures of antiquity: from the Levant and Egypt across the Mediterranean to Italy, the Balkans, and the Maghreb. A circle closes—along the ancient trade routes once traversed by conquerors from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan. Learn more.
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