The Antiquities market is by far the most intriguing and unknown of the whole Art market world. In fact, in can even be the perfect place for criminals, smugglers and looters, who operated in almost every country with a rich heritage. Perhaps the most famous and spectacular example is the so-called "Persian Mummy", mummy of an alleged Persian princess that surfaced in Pakistan in late 2000. The mummy had been in sale in the black antiquities market for more than $15 million, but one year later studies concluded that the Persian

Princess was in fact a modern woman of about 21 who had died maybe two years previously, possibly killed with a blunt instrument to the neck.

But all these scandals have not stopped the raise of the prices paid for top-quality antiquities, pieces that can be as sought-after as a Picasso or a Monet, for example. Well-preserved, good-provenance artworks can easily fetch up to $10 million or more in auction houses or Art fairs like the TEFAF in Maastricht .

Here is a list of the top 10 most expensive antiquities ever sold, the one and only list of its kind in Internet. theArtWolf will be ready to update it if new acquisitions come to light. And remember that you can also help us to create a more complete list if you see any error or omission. Then, please contact us.

1 - The Guennol Lioness

Limestone, c.3000 b.c.

2 - Artemis and the stag

Bronze, circa 1 st Century B.C./ 1 st Century A.D

$28,600,000 - Sotheby's NY, June 7 th 2007. Buyer: Giuseppe Eskenazi. Seller: Al bright Knox Art Gallery

3 - Statue of Aphrodite

South Italy , c.400 b.c.

$18,000,000 - Private sale, 1988. Buyer: The Getty Museum . Seller: Private collection

4 - Bronze figure of a tapir

Chinese, Warring States , 4th century b.c.

$12,000,000 - Private sale, TEFAF Maastricht 2007. Buyer: Chinese private collector. Seller: Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art

5 - The Jenkins Venus (The Barberini Venus)

Bronze, c.1 st -2 nd century a.c.

$11,700,000 (BP7.95 million) - Christie's London , July 2002. Buyer: Anonymous. Seller: Richard Compton

6 - The Canford Assyrian relief

Assyrian, 883-859 b.c.

$11,300,000 (BP7.7 million) - Christie's London , July 6 th 1994. Buyer: The Miho Museum . Seller: The Canford Manor

7 - Ivory face of Apollo

Greek, attributed to Phidias or his circle

$10,000,000 - Private sale, 1996. Buyer: Nino Savoca. Seller: Pietro Casasanta. The piece was found to have been looted from Italy

8 - Wine vessel

Chinese, Archaic, Early Zhou Dynasty, 11th to 10th Century B.C.

$9,240,000 - Christie's NY, March 21st 2001. Buyer: Anonymous. Seller: Muneichi Nita

9 - Wine vessel and cover

Chinese, Archaic, Late Shang Dynasty, 13th to 11th Century B.C.

$8,104,000 - Sotheby's NY, March 19th 2007. Buyer: Robert Keverne. Seller: The Albright-Knox Art Gallery

10 - Kouros - statue of a youth

Greek, c.530 b.c.

$7,000,000 (some sources say $9 million) - Private sale, 1986. Buyer: The Getty Museum . Seller: Gianfranco Becchina. Some experts consider this piece to be a modern fake

OTHER IMPORTANT PRICES

The Apollo Sauroktonos

attributed to Praxiteles, 4 th century b.c.

$5,000,000 (estimated, some sources say $6 million) - Private sale, 2004. Buyer: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Seller: Phoenix Ancient Art, Geneva