Roman marble statues to fascinate at auction

Followers of early Roman times will be fascinated by Christian McCann Auctions forthcoming on site sale of a Brighton collector’s important selection of five Roman marble statues which once belonged to French barrister Alexandre Nicolai (1865-1952).

The auction will take place from noon Sunday November 18 at 24 Grosvenor Streeet, Brighton.

A collector and enthusiastic archaeologist, Nicolai was a barrister at the Bordeaux Bar while actively participating in many excavations and publishing books on the Gallo-Roman period.

Nicolai also corresponded with French architect Albert Tournaire and Theodore Reinach – editors of the Revue Des Etudes Grecques, in which he published several papers.

One of the statues is a late 2^nd to early 3^rd century Roman white marble of the Dancing Satyr type.

Another is a white marble torso of the Apollo Belvedere type from the same period, while a third is an heroic male standing in a relaxed pose. The final two are renditions of a bearded Hercules and possibly Apollo.

The auction features 19^th century English furniture with superb mahogany dining room furniture including a banquet room table, dining chairs and chiffonier.
Nineteenth century French ormolu mounted salon furniture is another drawcard with Boulle cabinets, vitrines and gilt salon suites on offer.

Quality 19^th century French timepieces feature bracket clocks, and ormolu and bronze clocks and clock sets while various 19^th century signed bronzes are another attraction.

There is a rare collection of Chinese antique snuff bottles and works by Australian artists such as Tim Storrier, Albert Sherman, David Boyd, Pro Hart, Robert Dickerson, Louis Kahan and Hans Heysen.