Antiquities and Ancient Art: Including Property from the Estates of Andrew C. Ware and Iris C. Love

Freeman's Auction Sale #6428 Browse Day I: This season’s sale features material from two distinguished estates. Andrew C. Ware (1945–2024), an Egyptologist and dedicated student of Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, built a collection that reflects both scholarly inquiry and personal passion. His holdings include Egyptian works preserved in private hands for decades, enriched by the depth of family history and intellectual curiosity. Iris Cornelia Love (1933–2020), the celebrated archaeologist whose excavations at Knidos and Samothrace brought her international recognition, also assembled a collection that blended academic rigor with flair. Dubbed “Indiana Jones in a miniskirt” by The New York Times, she lent much of her material on long-term loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, where it informed scholarship for more than thirty years.

Highlights of the auction include an Egyptian Painted Limestone Noblewoman from the Old Kingdom (5th–6th Dynasty), over eighteen inches in height and a testament to the elegance of tomb sculpture, preserved in European collections since the 1970s. A Roman Marble Torso of an Imperial Figure from the 2nd century A.D. embodies the authority and idealism of Roman imperial portraiture, remaining in a Chicago collection since 1989. An Egyptian Bronze Cat, dating from the Late Period to the Ptolemaic Period, symbolizes devotion to the goddess Bastet and has been privately held since its last public appearance at auction in 1987.

Together with these works, the auction brings forward many pieces unseen publicly for a generation, offering a rare opportunity to encounter collections shaped by scholarship, passion, and history.

Preview By Appointment

Nov 7th Browse Day II - Timed & Online - Nov 21st 10am