About Us
Sue McGovern-Huffman, President of Sands of Time Antiquities, is an independent appraiser, art dealer, lecturer, writer and consultant, specializing in ancient cultures. Sue works with museums, collectors, dealers, appraisers, and the legal community in authenticating and appraising Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Holy Land antiquities. While her initial interest in ancient art was as a private collector, her professional focus was design, implementation and management of information technology strategies in government, legal and corporate environments.
Born in Sydney, Australia, Sue began her career as a professional dealer in antiquities in 1992. She opened a retail gallery, Sands of Time Antiquities, in Sydney buying and selling antiquities on a professional level while providing guidance to new collectors and working with select clients to enhance existing collections. Upon relocating with her American husband to the USA in 1998, Sue combined her information technology skills with her enthusiasm for ancient art by establishing a web-based dot.com company offering antiquities via the internet. In June 2000, Sue was one of the first experts to sell ancient art through the prestigious Sothebys.com site, a newly established on-line Internet auction facility.
In 2001, Sue opened the Sands of Time Antiquities gallery in Houston, TX and when the family moved to Washington DC in 2004, Sue relocated the gallery to the historic district of Georgetown. The Sands of Time gallery stocks a wide variety of objects in every price range, that date from between 4000BC to the 8th century AD. Geographically, they originate from Egypt, the Near East and Europe and include objects fashioned from marble, bronze, glass, gold, pottery and stone. Sands of Time produces fully illustrated brochures featuring fine quality ancient art and represents an international clientele at many of the major auctions throughout the world.
Those with a passion for anything from Roman gladiators to Egyptian kings are sure to find something of interest at the gallery. Restoration, appraisal, and professional consulting services are also available to amateur and serious collectors, dealers, scholars and museums worldwide.
Sue’s extensive market-related experience includes travel to domestic and international markets and regular attendance of the leading antiquity auctions in New York, London and continental Europe.
Her contact with the international market is continually reinforced by the interaction that takes place at the international Art Fairs such as, BAAF in Basel (Switzerland) and BAAF in Brussels (Belgium). In addition to attending auction and special show offerings, Sue further provides active appraisal work and is an Executive Board and a certified member (CAPP) of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), an international multi-disciplinary certifying and accrediting organization. CAPP is the highest achievement and level of credentialing in the industry of personal property appraising, signifying advanced appraisal methodology, expertise and professional development. Every appraisal is personally prepared by Sue to ensure that the work adheres to the ethical and professional guidelines of the Appraisal Foundation’s Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), IRS regulations and the high standards of the ISA.
Sue is a member of good standing with the following organizations:
- International Society of Appraisers (Executive Board Member)
- American Research Center in Egypt (President emeritus, DC Chapter)
- Archaeological Institute of America
- Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (Director)
- The American Numismatic Society
- Association of Dealers & Collectors of Ancient & Ethnographic Art (President)
