The British Museum’s Afghanistan exhibition has earned rave reviews, confirming the public appetite for ancient artefacts. But few museumgoers realise that antiquities of exhibition grade can be bought on the open market and that it is possible to own a piece of history with investment potential on even the most modest budget.
Antiquities include artefacts from Ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome and other cultures from the Bronze Age to Byzantine. Prices vary as widely as for later antiques — from about £40 for an ancient Roman fibula brooch or oil lamp to many millions for fine one-off works of sculpture.
Georgiana Aitken, head of antiquities at Christie’s, says that most buyers have a strong interest in a particular ancient culture. She adds: “If you have that love, it is a thrill to be able to see and handle something beautiful from that time.”
She says that it is best to buy what you like and can afford and to see any gains in value “as a bonus”. Nevertheless, she says that prices at the top end of the market have recently been very strong. “Therefore, you could see a great return in the medium to long term.”
She says that prices at this level start at £750 for Ancient Roman jewellery that remains wearable. Meanwhile, options are “wide open” at £10,000 to £20,000. “You could buy some fantastic Greek painted pottery or a Roman figure, for example — it depends on your interests.” She says that Roman glass is a particularly good area, with pieces available intact and in superb condition despite their fragility.
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Lots in the auction house’s next antiquities sale, at South Kensington on April 14, include an ancient Egyptian bronze cat at an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 and a Roman blue glass cinerarium (urn) at £10,000 to £15,000. Among the more affordable items are a Roman date-shaped vase in amber glass and a Mycenaean three-handled jar, each estimated at £700 to £1,000.
Chris Martin, of Ancient & Oriental, a dealer, agrees with Ms Aitken that trade has boomed despite the financial crisis and believes that any quality item bought for about £400 upwards should see gains. He adds that collectors looking for resale potential should go for pieces in the best condition possible, choosing a small pristine piece over something bigger but with damage (and any restoration). He says that fragments of sculpture are an exception because these can still be highly desirable.
He says that decent items in the £500 price range might include a Persian dagger from about 2,000BC or an Ancient Roman gold ring. He adds: “The remarkable thing about Ancient Roman jewellery is that it costs no more than modern hand-made jewellery from a good shop.”
As with fine art, Mr Martin says that global trends have boosted particular areas of the market. For example, new money in China has increased demand for artefacts from that country “so much so that little is coming into this country, and the Chinese are snapping up anything that comes on to the market from old British collections”.
However, dealers report no equivalent effect in the Indian market. For the moment, large stone sculptures of Buddha in the Indo-Greek style, dating from the time of Christ, start at as little as £1,500 to £2,000. These are a product of the melting-pot Gandharan culture of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of north India that features heavily in the British Museum show.
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Ms Aitken says that the best antiquities are the most evocative of their period. She cites the Crosby Garrett helmet, a 1st or 2nd-century Roman cavalry helmet with face mask, that was found by a metal detector enthusiast in Cumbria and which sold last year at Christie’s, to an anonymous buyer, for £2.3 million, against an estimate of £200,000 to £300,000. Archaeologists say that helmets of this type were ceremonial and used in hippika gymnasia, or cavalry tournaments, rather than battle.
The helmet stands as a work of art as well as an artefact. Ms Aitken says that the same goes for many antiquities. She adds: “The workmanship is remarkable. That is wonderful when you consider how much more difficult it was to work with their technologies.” She adds that buyers often display pieces in their homes, alongside contemporary art and design. “They actually sit together incredibly well.”
She says that most antiquities are fairly robust despite their age, so they do not require any particular special treatment.
The Crosby Garrett find had an excellent provenance because there is a paper trail to show what happened between its discovery and sale, and therefore proof that it was legally acquired and sold on.
Provenance is critical in this market because items without it may have been obtained by criminals. For example, a piece may have been looted from an archaeological site or museum or removed from its country of origin without permission. Besides the bad ethics, anyone who buys an item without provenance risks being pursued by an irate real owner and will find it difficult to sell on.
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The Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) has a code of conduct to prevent members from trading in items of possible black-market origin. Its website, theada.co.uk, lists its members and sets out the rules. Big auction houses also have policies in place. Yet despite these efforts, aspects of the legal trade remain controversial — for instance, when a private collector outbids a museum for a piece.
As for precautions on more ordinary antiquities, Mr Martin, who is chairman of the ADA, says that collectors should expect less expensive items to be “ex-collection” (part of a named collection that has been broken up), or to have been in Britain for more than 20 or 30 years. “For items at about £10,000 upwards you would want to have paperwork tracing the ownership in significant detail.”
Dr Bron Lipkin, of Collector Antiquities, an ADA member, says that the key for buyers is to “ask questions and more questions”. He continues: “For example, don’t ask only what the provenance of a piece is; ask how the dealer knows that that is the case. Any responsible dealer will be more than happy to talk these things through.”
Mr Martin says that requirements should be even stricter when an item may have originated from an area where looting is especially rife. “For example, the market for anything from the Iraq area is dead unless there is a solid provenance trail.”
Another reason to buy only from a reputable dealer is the volume of fakes. Mr Martin says that these target all levels of buyers and include copies of low-end pieces, such as ancient Egyptian amulets “that were made last week in Luxor” and sell for very little, fooling more naive buyers on websites such as eBay.
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Dr Lipkin believes that even experts tend to underestimate the number of fakes in circulation. He says that new collectors can learn what warning signs to look for at sites such as ancientartifakes.net and at the “real or fake” pages of his own site, collector-antiquities.com. He says too that it is a good idea to ask a dealer how he knows that a piece is genuine. “He should be able to point to similar examples in museums and specialist literature.”
Honest dealers can occasionally be duped themselves, but ADA members and other reputable companies should provide an immediate refund in the event that something turns out not to be as-sold.
Ancient artefacts for your collection — and to suit all budgets
• A 13cm-tall Egyptian bronze statue of a cat, Third Intermediate to Ptolemaic period (c 1069BC to 30BC) Estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 at Christie’s, London, April 14 (lot 137)
• A 36cm-tall Gandhara schist carving of Buddha with disciples (c 4th century) £2,875 from Collector Antiquities; collector-antiquities.com
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• A 17cm-tall Attic-Greek black-figured amphora (c 500-490BC) Estimate of £5,000 to £7,000 (lot 221)
• A 13cm-tall circa 4th-century BC Greek “Gnathian ware” small jug. £395, from Coincraft; www.coincraft.co.uk
• A Roman gold ring with figures to represent marriage (2nd or 3rd century) Estimate of £2,000 to £3,000 (lot 356)
• A 26cm-tall Gallo-Roman blue glass urn (late 1st or 2nd century) Estimate of £10,000 to £15,000 (lot 180)
• Child’s gold ring, Roman, c 2nd century. Octagonal form, with a palm frond device on the bezel to represent peace. £195 from Faustus; Faustuslondon.com
• A 29cm-tall Roman marble statue of Venus and Cupid (circa 2nd or 1st century BC) Estimate of £6,000 to £8,000 (lot 262)
• A 10cm-tall late Roman (circa 4th to 5th century) “amphoriskos” in green glass with double folded handles. This has some encrustation. £900 from Charles Ede Ltd; CharlesEde.com
• A 2.6cm x 1.7cm Byzantine gold cross set with a central garnet, with a loop for suspension in a necklace (c 8th century) £495 from Ancient & Oriental Antiquities.co.uk
• A late-dynasty Egyptian painted wood sarcophagus mask (6) (c 7th to 4th century BC) Estimate of £3,000 to £5,000 (lot 147)
How detective work can result in golden opportunities
• A good metal detector costs as little as £200 and can help you to find interesting artefacts, although the chances are that most will be of little monetary value. Even inexperienced detectorists frequently find such things as Roman coins and medieval belt buckles.
• As well as the Crosby Garrett Helmet, important detector finds have included the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork that was found in a field in 2009 and sold to a Birmingham museum for £3.285 million.
• Metal-detecting clubs offer events with opportunities to meet members who can advise on getting started, including the best kit. Go to the website of the National Council for Metal Detecting (NCMD) at ncmd.co.uk for a list of useful contacts.
• Experts say that you are most likely to make interesting finds if you do some research to identify good sites — for instance, a field close to an historic road.
• Detectorists are encouraged to report finds dating to pre-1650 to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), which maps them to give archaeologists a picture of their distribution. Provided an item is not “treasure” (see below), it remains the finder’s property. See finds.org.uk.
• If your find could qualify as treasure — coins buried together, or anything 300 or more years old containing gold or silver — you must report it to the district coroner. If it is compulsorily purchased, you will be awarded its full market value.
• Before you can detect, you must ask the landowner for permission. You should establish how any treasure finds will be split and put that agreement in writing. You should also read the guides to responsible detecting at the websites of the NCMD and PAS.