A spectacular exhibition of ancient art works of faience from the private collection of the Aboutaam family will be on view at Phoenix Ancient Art in New York from tomorrow till December 30.

The exhibition will then travel to the 57th Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair, Tour & Taxis, between January 21 and 29.

This will be followed by a display at Phoenix Ancient Art in Geneva in Spring.

This private collection was originally formed by Sleiman Aboutaam and continued by his sons, Ali and Hicham.

Fans of William, the well-loved Egyptian faience hippopotamus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will be pleased to see that there are three other examples of blue-green hippopotami in the show that are among the stars of the exhibition.

Two date from the Middle Kingdom (dynasty 11-13); one is from the Late Period (6th-4th century BC), which is known as the Persian Period because it was truly international with similar works appearing from Egypt to Iran and the Levant.

The hippopotamus, which looks so benign and lovable, was, in fact, a force of nature to be reckoned with, both in this life and in the next.

Other highlights from this 100 plus piece collection include an Egyptian New Kingdom light green figure of a seated antelope (c. 1570-1294 BC); an Egyptian pectoral with a military scene representing Ramses II (13th century BC); a Greek aryballos (small globular vase) in the form of a hedgehog from the mid-6th century BC; a Late Period Egyptian dish decorated with a pair of lions (5th-4th century BC); and an Egyptian amphora from the Hellenistic period decorated with a gold leaf wreath (3rd century BC)

Among the world’s finest dealers in Classical Antiquities, Phoenix Ancient Art is a second generation business, with elegant galleries in New York City and Geneva, Switzerland that display pieces of exceptional beauty and rarity representing more than 7,000 years of human creativity, from the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages.