One of most famous Yemeni antique murals to be auctioned in London

LONDON, Nov.13 (YPA) – Activists on social media revealed that a famous Yemeni artifact was offered for sale in an international auction abroad.

AN activist wrote on the “Yemeni expatriate in America” page on Facebook that one of Yemen’s most famous murals is being sold after 24 days. It is an antique mural that was from the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, United Kingdom, symbolized in Academic References and in the Code of Yemeni Inscriptions (CIH 458 RES 460), displaying five animal sculptures.

The activist added: “It is said that the mural was found in Al-Hotah area of Lahj (southern Yemen), and it is more correct that it is from Marib, but there was confusion as this mural was gifted by the Sultan of Lahj to Sir Hugh Marshall Hall (1865-1941), the civil ruler of the colony of Southern Rhodesia, now known as the Republic of Zimbabwe. Then the current owner acquired it at the London Art Market in the 1980s.”

The antique mural was mentioned in the studies of Professor Walter Muller, Jack Rickmans, Christian Julian Rubin, Maria Hofner and Nicholas Roodokanakis and others, making it one of the most famous Yemeni murals among researchers and specialists.

This mural is to be sold at the auction of Old Sculpture and Artwork Part One, which will be held by Sotheby’s Auctions in London on December 6, 2022.

YPA