Draft:David Aaron
British antiquities dealer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Aaron is an antiquities and natural history dealer located in Mayfair, London, specialising in Classical Greek and Roman, Egyptian, Near Eastern and Islamic art and pieces of natural history, including dinosaur fossils. [1][2][3]
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| Formerly | Aaron Gallery |
|---|---|
| Industry | Art |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Website | https://www.davidaaron.com/ |
History
The business was established in Iran in 1910[4] and expanded to a second location in Alexandria, Egypt in the 1920s under the leadership of Soleiman Haroon. In 1980, the gallery relocated to London under the name Aaron Gallery[5]. In 1998, Haroon’s youngest son, David Aaron, opened David Aaron Ltd in Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London. David Aaron is now located at 25A Berkeley Square, Mayfair.[6]
Museum acquisitions
David Aaron has handled objects acquired by museums including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Natural History Museum in London.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art – The Museum acquired an Illustrated Manuscript, ‘Costumi Turchi e Grechi fatti in Constantinopoli 1790’[7], from David Aaron in 2024. In 2025, a Griffin Protome (c. mid-7th century BCE – early 6th century BCE)[8] and an Alabaster Cenotaph (15th century) was by the Museum from David Aaron.
- J. Paul Getty Museum - In 1983, the J. Paul Getty Museum acquired a Bowl with a Medallion Depicting Dionysos and Ariadne (c. 100 B.C.)[9] from David Aaron.
- Princeton University Art Museum – In 2003, the Princeton University Art Museum acquired a Trefoil oinochoe (jug), (mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE)[10], from David Aaron.
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- Yorkshire Museum - The Yorkshire Museum acquired an 1,800-year-old hoard of Ryedale Roman Bronzes from David Aaron in 2021.[11][12][13][14] The hoard was discovered by metal detectorists in a field near Ampleforth in Ryedale, North Yorkshire, in May 2020 and acquired by David Aaron at auction.[15] The hoard contained a bust of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, confirming the presence of the Romans in the Yorkshire area. David Aaron exhibited the hoard at Frieze Masters 2022[16] prior to the hoard going on display at the Yorkshire Museum.
- Corning Museum of Glass - The Corning Museum of Glass has acquired two pieces from David Aaron, a Montataire Bowl (c. 350-440)[17] and a c. 1225-1300 Enamelled Beaker.[18]
Dinosaur Fossils
David Aaron exhibits dinosaur fossils in their Mayfair showroom and at art fairs internationally. The gallery first exhibited a fossil at an art fair in 2022 with a Camptosaurus fossil at Frieze Masters.[19][20][21] The gallery applies rigorous art industry standards to the acquisition and display of dinosaur fossils including providing bone maps of specimens.[22][23]
Notable dinosaur fossils
- Camptosaurus - In 2022, David Aaron sold a Camptosaurus fossil from the Late Jurassic Period, 154 million years ago, to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.[24]
- Tyrannosaurus Rex - A juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, known as Chomper, from the Maastrichtian age, Late Cretaceous Period, 68-66 million years ago, was exhibited at Frieze Masters 2023 and sold to a private collector.[25][26][27][28][29]
- Triceratops skull - In 2024, David Aaron exhibited a 68-million-year-old Triceratops skull at Harrods department store.[30]
- Enigmacursor - A newly discovered species, the Enigmacursor, from the Late Jurassic period, c. 150 million years old, was acquired by the Natural History Museum from David Aaron in 2025.[31][32][33][34]
- Juliasaurus - A medium-sized carnivorous theropod, known as Juliasaurus, will be displayed at the Hollytrees Museum in Colchester, Essex, from 3 April 2026. David Aaron sold the fossil to a private collector in 2024.[35][36][37]
Discoveries
Enigmacursor
In 2025, David Aaron sold a fossil from the Late Jurassic period, 152–145 million years ago, to a private collector who donated the fossil to the Natural History Museum, London.
Research conducted by the Museum led to the discovery of a new dinosaur species, the Enigmacursor, a two-legged herbivore.[38][39][40][32][33][34]
Inner coffin of Princess Sopdet-em-haawt
In 2024, David Aaron exhibited the inner coffin of Princess Sopdet-em-haawt, in the first public display of the coffin in the UK, at Frieze Masters.[41][42]
In 2014, the coffin was opened, revealing a yellow and white inscribed interior and a handwritten pencil note[43] from 1834. The note, written by French archaeologist Jules Xavier Saguez de Breuvery, read "Decouverte à Sakara en 1832 / rapportée d’egypte par M J de Breuv[ery] / En 1834" ("Discovered in Saqqara in 1832, removed from Egypt by M. J de Breuvery in 1834"), confirming the date and location of the coffin’s discovery.
Egyptologist Raphaële Meffre, faculty member at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, studied the coffin and published a 54-page translation of the coffin’s internal and external inscriptions.[44]
The contents of the coffin expanded knowledge of workshops in the Theban area at the beginning of the Late Period.
The inner coffin was previously exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and in the Young V&A Making Egypt[45] exhibition in 2025.[46]
Fairs
David Aaron participates in international art fairs each year, and has previously exhibited at Frieze Masters[47] in London and Seoul, The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht[48] and New York, Guardian Fine Art Asia Beijing, and Fine Art Asia Hong Kong.[49]
Public art
David Aaron exhibits public sculptures in Mayfair inspired by dinosaur fossils from the gallery. In 2023 David Aaron presented a bronze cast sculpture inspired by Chomper, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, in Berkeley Square.[50][51] In 2025 the gallery unveiled a marble Triceratops skull sculpture made by artist Paul Vanstone, also in Berkeley Square.[52][53]