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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Medfield, MA, United States, 2008/12/06 - Fragments of Time, Inc., a leading international dealer in museum-quality ancient art, today released its latest catalog, Ancient Art XLIV, containing more than 50 antiquities all of which come from the collection of renowned Byzantine scholar - Fragments.
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Fragments of Time, Inc., a leading international dealer in museum-quality ancient art, today released its latest catalog, Ancient Art XLIV, containing more than 50 antiquities all of which come from the collection of renowned Byzantine scholar Carroll F. Wales (1918-2007) of Boston. Fragments of Time acquired the antiquities collection in its entirety directly from the estate, and is pleased to offer these objects to the market for the first time since they were collected by Wales several decades ago.
All of the objects highlighted in Ancient Art XLIV are related to a single theme—the art of Early Christianity—and offer collectors a unique opportunity to acquire objects of impeccable quality and provenance.
“Many antiquities collectors of antiquities focus on one or more of the “big three” cultures -- Egyptian, Greek and Roman. Until recently, art from the late Roman, Coptic and Byzantine periods was sometimes relegated to second class status,” said John Ambrose, founder and director of Fragments of Time. “This has changed with a blossoming of scholarship and important museum exhibitions over the past two decades. Objects from these periods, are enjoying renewed popularity and intense collecting interest.”
Such interest, though belated, is certainly justified. Byzantium was a cultural crossroads. It is where the classical age converged with the Enlightenment of Western Europe. It was the bridge between eastern culture and classicism. And it was the cradle of modern European civilization.
Highlights from the Wales collection featured in the catalog include:
• Processional Cross featuring images and inscriptions for St. George, St. John, St. Stephen, and St. Nicholas (8th-11th Century AD);
• Unopened reliquary cross inscribed for St. George and Michael (9th-11th Century AD);
• Ornately incised Reliquary cross depicting a crucified Christ with small crosses place where nails pierced his outstretched arms (9th-11th Century AD);
• Reliquary cross with Mary surrounded by the four Gospel authors – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (9th-11th Century AD).
All of the objects features in Ancient Art XLIV were collected by Wales, a distinguished Harvard-educated scholar and conservator, over two decades from 1952-1970. Wales traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa. He spent the 1950s restoring Byzantine frescoes in Istanbul under grants from the Dumbarton Oaks Museum, and is also known for his restoration of the famous Roman mosaic panel from Antioch (photo above) at the Worcester (MA) Art Museum.
He enjoyed an enduring friendship with archaeologist Max Mallowan and his wife, Agatha Christie, and conserved ivories for Mallowan during excavations at Nimrud, Iraq.
While his collection spanned an 800-year timeframe and includes sculpture, pottery, bronzes, fine oil lamps, and jewelry, the heart of the Wales collection is a fine concentration of objects from the dawn of Christianity. Chief among these is a remarkable collection of bronze enkolpia engraved with a rich variation of saints, angels, Apostles, Mary, and Jesus Christ himself.
For more than fourteen years, company founder John Ambrose, who had previously spent 15 years as a private collector in Europe and the USA, has been one of the few American antiquities dealers publishing quarterly, fully researched and illustrated, fixed-price catalogues dedicated to fine antiquities. With a fixed price catalog the price listed in the catalog is the price – no hidden fees or costly premiums that now run an additional 25% at major auction houses.
Fragments of Time enjoys an international reputation for quality antiquities, scholarly expertise, competitive prices, and unrivalled service. The catalogs span more than 6,000 years of ancient history and feature objects in price ranges from $100 - $10,000+.
Fragments of Time quarterly catalogues are consistently rated among the best in the antiquities field and are used by collectors, scholars and museums as reference works. A complimentary catalogue is available upon request from website. An annual subscription is just $15 in the continental US and is free to clients who make at least one purchase per year.
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john[.]fragmentsoftime.com 
