Ali Aboutaam

Ali Aboutaam, co-owner of Phoenix Ancient Art, is currently selling lots of jewelry and gems from different historical periods.  Currently on sale is a Byzantine gold ornamented disk that has a cruciform Greek monogram, which is filled with niello on the surface.  According to the e-Tiquities website where these gems are sold, chances are this piece of jewelry probably originally formed part of a set which included a necklace, box and valuable dishes.

Byzantine Period and Phoenix Ancient Art

During the Byzantine era, monograms were very popular and used to identify groups.  This one, currently on sale by the Abotaams, has the owner’s name engraved, saying ‘this object belongs to,’ and his title.  The Byzantine Era (also known as Eastern Roman Empire) focused around the capital of Constantinople.

Ali Aboutaam, co-owner of Phoenix Ancient Art, specializes in various different time periods of historic art.  One such era is the Geometric and Orientalizing Greek Era.  This spans the 9th and 8th centuries BC and was produced throughout Greece, especially Athens.  In fact, in Athens during this time, much geometric pottery was being produced.  In fact, since people seemed to desire good quality dishes around 900 BC, potters really focused on what they were making and put much more detail into their pottery than they had done previously.  Vases with geometric and animal designs are typical of the Geometric Era whereas the Orientalizing Era typically depicts near-eastern motifs through metalwork.
Geometric Art Sold Through Phoenix Ancient Art

The Aboutaams currently have five pieces of art from this time period on sale through e-Tiquities as well as a number of catalogues.  These gems are: a Geometric bronze bird stamp seal; 2 Geometric bronze bulls; a Geometric bronze pendant Pyxis; and a Geometric bronze spherical pendant. This last piece – the pendant – sells for $1,600 and comprises three parts: vertical incisions in the middle; triangle incisions both at the top and bottom; upper stem pierced and curved.

Ali Aboutaam, co-owner of Phoenix Ancient Art, lives in Switzerland. He is about to put on an exhibition, (with his brother Hicham), of the company’s art entitled “Horse in Antiquity.” The exhibition will run for two months from April 30 to June 30. The exhibition will take place at Geneva’s gallery. The company also had an exhibition in Brussels in January at the Antiques and Fine Arts Fair.

Art Exhibitions and Phoenix Ancient Art

Art exhibitions are a great way of promoting art. Thankfully for a successful company such as Phoenix Ancient Art, this is not so necessary. The company has an online site, e-Tiquities which sells many antique art objects. But art exhibitions will usually focus on a specific period in time.

Madison Avenue is set to hold their third annual Gallery Walk, on May 15, 2010.  Phoenix Ancient Art will be participating in this event along with over 50 other art galleries.  It is set to be quite a prestigious affair for all those serious about art.  Faculty members from the New York City public school will lead groups on free tours of galleries on Madison Avenue.  Partners and sponsors of the event include: HSBC Bank; the Fund for Public Schools; New York Magazine, hosted by Madison Avenue.
Phoenix Ancient Art Working Toward Fund Raising

As well as being a highly successful company, by taking part in the above event, Phoenix Ancient Art will be helping arts education in the city of New York’s public schools. The event is seeking to raise monies for the Fund for Public Schools.  Events at the fundraiser include:  scavenger hunt; meeting those who work in art such as artist Winfred Rembert (who is currently exhibiting ‘Memories of my Youth’), curator Chris Santa Maria and art owner Larry Matlick.  There will be special talks and viewings as well as opportunities to meet interesting and well-rounded artists, owners and curators discussing exhibitions in particular and their work in general.

Today, the market is showing an exciting growing interest in antiques. As Hicham Aboutaam explains, “There are antiquities available for purchase that are considered among the finest five in the world. Compare that to an Impressionist painting or the Old Masters, where the top 20 or 30 are off the market – in public institutions – and it’s obvious why there’s so much interest in antiquities.”

There is a great deal of opportunity with antiques, and a chance that some of the world’s most amazing antiques could still become for sale. The Vatican, for instance, has a massive store of antiques in their possession. Ali Aboutaam, as another example, recently returned from a visit to a Delaware family that has antiques simply sitting in their warehouse.

This all makes for exciting opportunities in the ever-changing field of antiquities.

In an amazing synthesis of the extraordinarily old with the most up-to-the-minute new, Hicham and Ali Aboutaam of Phoenix Ancient Art launched their landmark web site, E-tiquities. Click your way over to E-tiquities and get a gander of the most beautiful objects which have been cherished and preserved for thousands of years until our day. You are more than welcome to just browse, since one of the goals of this unique web-site is to open up the world of ancient art to a broader audience, to educate them about art from the deep past, and to hopefully interest them to belong to this special club of people who, more than owning the precious objects, become guardians of them for the future.

Even computer geeks might want to participate in the chain of ownership through the millennia, acknowledging that not everything is measured in nanoseconds, or gets obsolete in 5 years time.

The Aboutaam brothers Ali and Hicham of Phoenix Ancient Art offer a beautiful marriage ring under the category of “jewels and gemstones.” This object is a fascinating solid gold ring from the Byzantine epic. Amazing detail sets this ring off as an exquisite example of the survival of a pagan Roman custom into the context of the recently developed Christian religion.

Depicting the busts of a bride and groom bisected by a cross, a bust of Christ hovers above them with the inscription “BEOY OMONOIA” which is Greek for “concord in God”  placed above and below. The groom’s figure is engraved with an oval-shaped brooch clasping his flounced cloak closed. The bride is adorned with pearl earrings and a matching pearl collar around her neck.

Roman marriage contracts were customarily signed in front of the Emperor’s image, but the Byzantines chritianized this practice by switching the head of Christ for that of the Emperor, as seen is the coin which is approximately 1,500 years old.

Park Avenue Armory

Participating for the third consecutive year, Phoenix Ancient Art is anticipating the most successful representation in the 2009 International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show. This fair featuring more than 60 high-end art dealerships is being organized by impresarios Brian and Anna Haughton of England. Among the huge variety of artworks and objects of interest will be Egyptian sculptures, African masks, Islamic artworks, jewelry, silver, rugs, clocks, paintings old and new, and other genres strange, rare and wonderful.

Ali and Hicham Aboutaam will be anchoring their booth at position E2 at the Park Avenue Armory, with a larger than life sculpture, carved in green basalt, of a muscular man’s torso, from the Roman period.

Phoenix will be featuring many more representatives from their wide ranging collection. For convenience and interest’s sake the Aboutaams will be publishing a catalog of their objects available at the fair. The catalogue will be available at the opening of the show.

The show will take place from October 16th until the 22nd. The Aboutaams urge you to come on down and be swept away by the incredible variety and beauty of artwork from the ancient world.

Ali Aboutaam and Hicham Aboutaam are the brother team of Phoenix Ancient Art who welcome you on a journey into the fascinating world of ancient civilization. Stepping into either of the art galleries of Phoenix Ancient Art, located in New York and Geneva, is like embarking on a journey through the ages, as you observe antiquities dating back thousands of years.

The world of ancient art is our window onto the world and the civilizations that populated it prior to the birth of our modern cultures and societies. Phoenix Ancient Art, through Ali and Hicham Aboutaam, has brought the past alive at their galleries, which means that even the general public is able to benefit from the finds and artefacts that have often been the sole domain of archaeologists and art fanatics. When it comes to art displays and galleries, as well as art dealership in antiquities, the Aboutaam family is the one address you must visit!

Pheonix Ancient Art, under the proprietorship of Ali and Hicham Aboutaam has a wide variety of ancient works of art, some depicting  themes which are more common or that we are used to from modern artistic styles. One of the more unusual or less understood themes in ancient art is that of the “grotesque.”

The archeological term “grotesque” is used to denote a distinct and important class of objects. These artifacts are usually diminutive, and vary widely in their artistic quality. The “grotesques” exploit physical deformities in the subject matter for the enjoyment of the observers. The ancient artisan frequently exaggerated to the point of caricature the maladies depicted in their subjects.

This particular style was developed in areas such as Asia Minor (Smyrna) and in Egypt (Alexandria). However the popularity of the grotesque style spread throughout the entire Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods.

The subjects of the grotesques varied widely and could include men, on a rare occasion women and/or children, old men, dwarves, obese, emaciated and Africans.

Seen here is a wonderful example of a small statue from the Hellenistic Period. It dates for the 1st century B.C.E. until the 1st century A.D. The statue is most likely a depiction of old man with a domed, bald head; deeply lined face; emaciated back where you can even count the ribs and vertebrae; and frail, thin arms.