A rare ancient Greek funerary sculpture, the Stele of Medeia (375-350 BCE), is being offered for sale at the TEFAF art fair by the London gallery David Aaron. The piece, priced at £450,000, depicts an unmarried young woman and retains significant original pigment. It has already attracted significant interest from a major US museum.
The stele's importance lies in its rarity, as only about four percent of Attic funerary reliefs were dedicated to unmarried women, and its exceptionally well-documented provenance. Its history traces back through notable 20th-century art dealers and collectors, including Hungarian gallerist Joseph Brummer, whose collection largely went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The gallery emphasizes that such documented provenance is crucial for value in the robust antiquities market.