Jamal, Jad and Julian Sell Antiquities in New York

Jamal Rifai

The above text on events that may be linked to 'Aphrodite Ancient Art' might prompt some interest in that dealership. Their website http://aphroditeancientart.com/cart/index.php?main_page=home (link gives a '404 Not Found' notification). On its LinkedIn page, however, it currently says:

We are one of the world's top online dealers in ancient art, offering a superb collection of Classical Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern museum-quality objects. We are also the world's top dealer of Ancient Glass; our comprehensive collection is second to none. It is, without a doubt, the finest selection currently available for sale. Every object we sell comes with a certificate of authenticity, along with an unconditional lifetime guarantee. Additionally, the provenance of each of our antiquities has been meticulously well documented. Every object purchased by us has been legally acquired; if we import an object to the United States, we do so in compliance with federal regulations and international treaties concerning cultural heritage. Our main goal is to build strong and long-lasting business relationships with our clients; full client satisfaction is of utmost importance to us.

The problem is that if they are not the importers themselves, but the object was (somehow) imported by someone else, there are in effect no legal restraints within the US to their purchase.

Aphrodite Ancient Art was founded in 1999 by a bloke called Jamal Rifai, whose own LinkedIn page gives the information that he currently works in 'Ancient art Appraisals at Aphrodite Appraisals' Brooklyn, New York, about which he says:

'With 25 years experience dealing in Ancient art, currently I am focused on authentication, and appraisal of ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Near Eastern, Islamic, and Far Eastern works of art. I am currently a member of the Appraiser Association of America, doing all types of appraisals including Fair Market Value, Replacement Value, Liquidation Value, and Charitable Donations as per IRS Guideline particularly for donations over $5,000'.

 This company has been going now for just a few months, it seems, he lists his 'experience' there as 'Jan 2019 – Present'. He also lists his own company as still active (Aphrodite Ancient Art [ Founder], Dates Employed 1999 – Present, Employment Duration 20 yrs) and lists his tasks there as 'Providing expertise and consultation on acquiring objects of antiquities from ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern civilizations', which is rather an odd way to write "antiquities dealer". Before that we are told he studied at Oklahoma State University, gaining an education as a 'Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Field Of Study Management, Art History, Classical studies.

Jad Rifai

In the antiquities business Jamal is associated with Jad Rifai (from the Greater New York City Area perhaps a brother) who also has a LinkedIn account ('dynamic, creative, solutions-focused, entrepreneurial professional who has a knack for engineering sales and building relationships with people'). His experience is listed as a BA at Fordham University in 'Communication and Media Studies' 2006 – 2010, while working part-time in a video games store. He joined Aphrodite Ancient Art in Oct 2010 and at first worked as 'Manager of Brand Development' (until Feb 2015) when he:

revised the entire online company image for Aphrodite Ancient Art- worked on a website design overhaul, implemented social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, rebuilt the brand from the ground up essentially and instilled a new company vision'. 

Perhaps it was Jad (in Polish the word means 'poison') who was responsible for those annoying spam popups I was getting. In March 2010 Jad became Auction Manager, Aphrodite Gallery branch (Mar 2015 – Apr 2019), which he describes as:

 'Working in the “Aphrodite Gallery” branch of the company, I oversaw, managed, and clerked 11 antiquities auctions on the LiveAuctioneers and Invaluable online selling platforms.

Jad lists as his accomplishments that he speaks three languages: 'Arabic English Italian'.

The Aphrodite franchise seems to have been a real family business, supporting other persons surnamed "Rifal', such as Julian J Rifal whose LinkedIn profile says he was employed as a 'Researcher' in Aphrodite Ancient Art New York, from May 2012 – Sep 2015 (3 yrs 5 mos) He speaks Arabic, English, Spanish and in the firm he:

• Analyzed iconography for ancient Greek and Roman coins, spanning from the early Archaic period in Greek history to late Imperial Rome, identifying obverse/reverse subject matter, exergues, motifs, mints, and historical significance
• Listed coins for sale and bidding through auctions and online venues, edited listings, and tracked sales
• Appraised coins and antiquities for clients, through catalog referencing and cross-referencing
• Extracted information from scholarly sources, including catalogs and art-historical documents, and used this research to write and edit antiquity listings on the company website
• Maintained inventory lists of all the company’s antiquities
• Monitored and maintained records of coin provenance
• Prepared authenticity certificates
• Organized and maintained inventory
• Researched, formatted, and edited catalogs
• Overhauled the website’s listing structure, converting it into a tiered format
• Organized and transferred antiquity images to the company’s new website
• Scheduled appointments as a once-a-week gallery secretary

He claims responsibility for two publications from the Aphrodite stable: 'Art of the Ancients' Volume II - 2015 and 'Volume Art of the Ancients' III - 2016.

Aphrodite Ancient Art has five reviews on LinkedIn webpage, 'Helmut' from Ingolstadt, Germany wrote on Oct 25, 2018:

I am glad for my experiences I've had with this special dealer/auction house. Apart from great lots he's very accurate organizing shipping. Additionally, it is always a pleasure having a nice conversation with him.

There are three anonymous positive reviews, and this one

Anonymous Feb 04, 2018 The description of the items is not [cor]responding to the truth. All items are not intact as described and reassured by the auction house in the person of Mr. Jad Rifai. Once i showed him the images showing that the roman glasses i received were restored he did not solve the problem. A restored piece is worth a lot less than an intact piece, i bought the pieces for a collector that now is really upset.

Some 'appraiser', then. He also got one intriguing recommendation September 28, 2013 from: Emil Samuels 'retired Senior Civil Servant at Various Dutch Departments in The Hague , Jamal was a client of Emil’s':

Jamal has a superb eye and deep knowledge with regard to the Classical Antiques around the Mediterranean and the Middle East.. Furthermore he is a gentleman when it comes to advise customers.

What's that all about?

Mr  Rifai's irritating popups earned him two mentions of his dealings on this blog before:
Sunday, 23 November 2014 Syria Looting: Could Collectors Care Less?
and Friday, 15 May 2015 Antiquities from Palmyra on EBay today