Two Babylonian Kings, an Egyptian Customs Official and a Corsican Hoard Lead TimeLine's 2 June

Day One is the flagship sale with a dedicated printed catalogue; 3-8 June sessions are online-only; Coins, Weights, Tokens & Medals follow on 9-10 June.

HARWICH, United Kingdom, May 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TimeLine Auctions, the British saleroom known for museum-level antiquities, will hold its Antiquities & Ancient Art Auction on 2 June 2026. Day One has headline pieces from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and the western Mediterranean, within a wider sale spanning the Palaeolithic to the medieval period.

Two named Mesopotamian kings sit at the top of the catalogue. A hemispherical bronze bowl carries the five-sign cuneiform name of Manishtushu of Akkad (c. 2270–2255 B.C., lot 249), one of the earliest named royal inscriptions to come to market in recent years. From the Kassite period come an agate eye-bead bearing the name of Kurigalzu II (lot 250), and a banded agate cylinder seal with a Sumerian prayer to the storm god Adad (lot 216).

 

Large Egyptian Bronze Figure of Osiris with Lapis Lazuli Inlays

A large bronze mummiform figure of Osiris, shown wearing the central element of the Atef crown, with traces of lapis lazuli inlay still visible in the eyebrows and divine beard. The god is depicted in traditional form, with crossed arms holding the crook and flail, and fine details including a uraeus to the crown and recesses for further inlays. Mounted on a wooden base and supplied with a custom-fitted case, it is an impressive and highly decorative representation of Osiris.

 

 

The Egyptian section is headed by a forty-centimetre basalt figure of the Saite customs official Wahibre, kneeling to support a wide offering basin. Separated in the nineteenth century, the two parts moved through different collections and salerooms before coming together here for the first time at auction (lot 61). Other Egyptian highlights include a seventy-centimetre hollow-cast bronze Osiris of the 26th Dynasty (lot 81), and a painted wooden stele linking Amun at Luxor to Osiris at Abydos (lot 65).

Two Attic vessels lead the Greek section. A 6th-century B.C. black-figure pyxis shows the chariot procession of an Athenian bride, with the reception at her new house around the lid (lot 96). A fifth-century red-figure column krater pairs Europa with a Dionysiac triad, two scenes of divine power on one vessel (lot 88).

From the western Mediterranean come the Gravona bronzes, ten objects recovered from a railway cutting in Corsica in the 1880s and published by Robert Forrer in 1924.

Following Day One, the auction continues online-only from 3 June, with ancient art across multiple collecting categories. The programme concludes with an Ancient Coins sale on 9-10 June, alongside weights, tokens, medals and books.

Auction start time: 8am US Eastern / 1pm BST.

Bidding: Absentee, by telephone, or live online via TimeLine's bidding platform, LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable or The Saleroom.

Payments: GBP accepted. Worldwide shipping available.

Questions: +44 (0) 1277 815121 or ah@timelineauctions.com.
Online: https://timelineauctions.com

 

Corsican Bronze Age Hoard from the Ajaccio Area, Discovered c. 1880–1890

A rare Bronze Age Corsican hoard comprising a varied group of bronze objects, including a dagger or short sword, dagger pommel, crescent-shaped axe, harness fitting, several fibulae, and a group of rings. The collection gives a strong impression of Bronze Age metalworking, personal adornment, weaponry, and ritual or practical objects from the Ajaccio area.

 

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