Understanding Egyptian Art

When someone says that they've purchased an Egyptian antique, what exactly does this mean? Egyptian art, like that available through Phoenix Ancient Art and e-tiquities.com includes items that were produced in the lower Nile valley. This art usually comes from six main time periods including the pre-dynastic (from the 6th to the 4th millennia B.C.), old Kingdom (3rd millennium B.C.), middle Kingdom (from the 20th to the 18th centuries B.C.), New Kingdom (from the 16th to the 11th centuries B.C.), Late (from the 7th to the 4th centuries B.C.) and the Ptolemaic (from the 3rd through the 1st centuries B.C.) periods.

Egyptian art is best characterized by items that relate to the afterlife, a topic that enthralled the Egyptians. This includes mummies, pyramids, wall paintings and similarly themed items. Most of these items show the religious beliefs and practices of the Egyptians through time, capturing their history through art.

Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair

The Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair concludes today, and Phoenix Ancient Art was thrilled to be part of this amazing program. This was the 55th year of the fair that was recently renamed. Formerly called The Belgium Antiques and Fine Arts Fair, it is the oldest annual event of its type anywhere in the world.

First organized in 1955, it moved in the year 2004 to the Tour & Taxi site. Centrally located and easy to get to, the fair spotlights 130 antique dealers, including Ali Aboutaam and Hicham Aboutaam. It expects 36,000 viewers in its 133,772 square feet of exhibit space and has exhibitors from all over the world.

Anatolian Art with Phoenix Ancient Art

If you see Anatolian art in someone’s house, then you know that they really have antiques. Anatolia included art that was produced during many empires. Such antiques, available today at Phoenix Ancient Art and many other auction houses, include works from the Hittite (18th-12th century B.C.), Assyrian (19th-9th century B.C.), and the Akkadian empires (24th-22nd century B.C.). It could also include works from the Bronze Age, the Seleucid (4th to 1st century B.C) and Selijuk empires (11th-12th century A.D.).

While in production, Anatolian art would be found along traditional trade routes from the near east to Greece and Rome. Many of the pieces you might see today will show influences from these encounters along the trade route, and many empires along the way will show Anatolian art influences.

Many of the Anatolian art pieces from Phoenix Ancient Art and other locations will show ring shaped “idols,” statue “idols” and jewelry.

Medieval Antiques

It’s often hard to understand the distinctions amongst all of your antique options. Antique dealers such as Hicham Aboutaam and Ali Aboutaam sell antiques from many time periods. How are you to know what a Medieval antique at Phoenix Ancient Art is?

Medieval art comes from the 11th-15th centuries A.D. in Europe. It includes antiques that are in the Romanesque and Gothic styles. The most prominent Medieval antiques include manuscripts, metalwork and items that are made of ivory and enamel.

Medieval antiques include influences from the art of the Roman Empire as well as from Christian iconography. Popular choices in antiques from this period would include jewelry, such as that available at Phoenix Ancient Art.

Islamic Bowl Brings Beauty to Mealtime In Ancient Ottoman Empire

Islam has been in the news a lot lately, but did you know that Islam was a remarkable civilization dating back to the seventh century when Muhammad began preaching is new faith at Mecca at the age of 40, when he started receiving revelations from God, in the year c. 610. Many beautiful designs and styles we incorporate into our art and architecture today owe their origins to Islam.
At Pheonix Ancient Art there are several beautiful and unique objects which represent the great Islamic culture of the past. As an example here is a silver gilt bowl from the early to middle 16th century A.D., which is at the time of the Ottoman Empire.

The bowl is delightfully decorated with animals in a quasi-hemispheric shape and further adorned in a complex floral pattern. The design of the bowl was raised into the silver by hammering, and was totally gilded inside and only partially gilded on the outside under the lip of the bowl.

There is much to be said about this wonderful piece of ancient art. Visit Phoenix Ancient Art where you can examine other artworks from the Islamic and other periods in history which are the foundation of our own civilization.

Ali Aboutaam's Exhibit Featuring "Exotics of the Ancient World"

Ali Aboutaam arranged an exhibition of “Exotics of the Ancient World.” The following is taken from the introduction to the catalog which was published for this exhibit.

In the 19th century the neo-classical movement together with the renewed taste for antiquities reinforced the image of ancient idealism. Beauty was filled with elegance and nobility.

Because of this focus on the idealization of beauty, an entire aspect of antiquity was forgotten. The dimension of the ancient world which was marginalized and considered negligible included representations of the strange, unusual and picturesque. These works of art were viewed as trivial and even repulsive.

This collection hopes to suggest a bit of a change of scenery. We believe there is a parallel counterpart in the literature of the times. We at Phoenix Ancient Art believe it is a response to a type of weariness or boredom, perhaps caused by an excess of dignity and grandeur.

Phoenix Showing Female Deities in Geneva

The Geneva Gallery of Phoenix Ancient Art will be exhibiting depictions of female divinities from the Mediterranean basin area. The show, which is entitled

“Déeses”
Divinités Féminines des Civilisations Méditerranéennes

will be open from October 29th until November 25, 2009.

The Aboutaam brothers Ali and Hicham warmly invite you to attend and enjoy this very special presentation.