Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Dealers

Sands of Time Ancient Art

Washington, DC (Georgetown), United States · founded 1992

Antiquities dealer begun in Sydney in 1992 by Sue McGovern-Huffman, later in Houston and Washington DC, whose online auctions have offered Cypriot jugs, figures and heads since 2019.

About

Sands of Time Ancient Art began as a Sydney gallery in 1992 and, according to the firm, opened in Houston in 2001 and moved to Georgetown, Washington DC, in 20041,8. Its president is Sue McGovern-Huffman, an independent appraiser who says she was among the first to sell ancient art through Sothebys.com, in June 20001. A 2013 press release gives the same Sydney origin and 1992 start3. The firm lists memberships of the International Society of Appraisers, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Research Center in Egypt, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, the American Numismatic Society and the Association of Dealers & Collectors of Ancient & Ethnographic Art, of which McGovern-Huffman is president, and names the Basel and Brussels ancient art fairs as ones it has attended1,9. Its earlier website, dcancientart.com, carried a blog from 2009 to 20128.

The stock is stated as Egypt, the Near East and Europe from 4000 BC to the 8th century AD1. Cypriot material sits in a "Greek, Cypriot & Magna Graecia" collection, where a terracotta Archaic male figure of the 5th century BCE was priced at USD 2,9506,7. Web listings also show a Red Polished jug with beaked spout of c. 1900-1600 BCE, printed as from the private collection of a diplomat who acquired it in Cyprus in 1969-72, a Bichrome barrel jug of Cypro-Geometric III and an Archaic limestone head of a youth2.

The firm also runs online auctions, listed on Invaluable and LiveAuctioneers. Eleven of them between March 2019 and April 2026 carried Cypriot lots, fifty in all, thirteen in the largest sale, on 17 October 202410. Ten of the fifty sold, the highest at USD 3,500 for a Cypro-Archaic figure of a woman carrying a pot in May 2022 and USD 2,500 for a gourd juglet10. A 2023 Christie's lot lists the firm in its provenance chain5.

The Cypriot collection

Cypriot pieces are a regular strand of stock (Red Polished, Bichrome, Black-on-Red, White Slip, terracotta figurines, limestone sculpture, gabbro mace heads), offered through the gallery website (a 'Greek, Cypriot Art' collection) and its own online auctions: 50 Cypriot lots in 11 sales from 23 March 2019 to 21 April 2026, of which 10 sold, mostly at USD 50 to 3,500. (2026)

Sands of Time Ancient… 2026Sands of Time Ancient… 2026

History

  1. 1992
    According to the firm, Sue McGovern-Huffman opened a retail gallery, Sands of Time Antiquities, in Sydney, Australia.

    SydneySands of Time Ancient… 2026Sands of Time Antiquities… 2013

  2. June 2000
    According to the firm, McGovern-Huffman was one of the first experts to sell ancient art through Sothebys.com, in June 2000.

    Sands of Time Ancient… 2026About Sands of Time… 2026

  3. 2001
    According to the firm, the business expanded to Houston, Texas.

    HoustonSands of Time Ancient… 2026

  4. 2004
    According to the firm, the business relocated to Georgetown, Washington DC.

    Washington, DCSands of Time Ancient… 2026

  5. August 2014
    Search-indexed trade information records the Association of Dealers and Collectors of Ancient and Ethnographic Art (ADCAEA) as started by McGovern-Huffman and associates in August 2014; she is its president.

    Search-index record: Sue McGovern-Huffman… 2026Sands of Time Ancient… 2026

  6. 2019–2020
    First Cypriot lots in the firm's own online auctions: 23 March 2019 (proto White Slip milk jug, lot 253), 21 September 2019 (four lots incl. a Middle Bronze Age 'Astarte' figure sold USD 550, a limestone youth's head, a baby feeder sold USD 100) and 28 October 2020 (large bowl).

    Washington, DCSands of Time Ancient… 2026

  7. 2022
    Cypriot lots in sales of 10 May 2022 (four, including a Cypro-Archaic 'woman carrying a pot' sold USD 3,500 and a gourd juglet sold USD 2,500) and 18 October 2022 (three).

    Washington, DCSands of Time Ancient… 2026

  8. 2023
    A Cypriot lot (Christie's sale 21709, lot 168, 2023) carries the provenance line 'with Sands of Time Ancient Art, Washington, D.C., acquired from the above'; the firm appears as an earlier owner in the chain.

    Christie's, sale 21709, lot… 2023

  9. 2023–2026
    Cypriot lots continued in sales of 28 Feb 2023 (4), 31 Jul 2024 (4), 17 Oct 2024 (13), 27 May 2025 (9), 4 Sep 2025 (6) and 21 Apr 2026 (1); most bought in. In total 50 Cypriot lots, 10 sold.

    Washington, DCSands of Time Ancient… 2026

People

1 person

Objects

Sources

  1. 1. (2026). “Sands of Time Ancient Art: about us”. Online
  2. 2. (2026). “Sands of Time Ancient Art: product listings (GP2406, GP2404, GS1401), as indexed by web search”. Online
  3. 3. (2013). “Sands of Time Antiquities Embraces Technology, Incorporates The Curator's Eye”. Online
  4. 4. (2026). Sands of Time Ancient Art auction lots.
  5. 5. (2023). Christie's, sale 21709, lot 168.
  6. 6. (2026). “Sands of Time Ancient Art: GT2504, a Cypriot terracotta Archaic male figure (site search and Greek, Cypriot collection page, 2026)”. Online
  7. 7. (2026). “Sands of Time Ancient Art: collections page ('Greek, Cypriot Art' category; four products at time of reading)”. Online
  8. 8. (2026). “About Sands of Time (earlier site dcancientart.com, as indexed by web search)”. Online
  9. 9. (2026). “Search-index record: Sue McGovern-Huffman and associates started the Association of Dealers and Collectors of Ancient and Ethnographic Art (ADCAEA) in August 2014”. Online
  10. 10. (2026). Sands of Time Ancient Art: 50 Cypriot auction lots, 11 sales 23 Mar 2019 to 21 Apr 2026.