Mainly bicones, spheres and oblate shapes. 280 grams total, 6-34 mm

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Plano-convex body with incuse pellet 'spots', incised facial and carapace details. 6.5 grams, 22 mm

UK private collection before 2000.
On the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.

Three drum-shaped ceramic vessels each with a flared rim and flat underside, connected by spurs at the equator; painted linear motifs to the mouths, shoulders and sidewalls. 350 grams, 13 cm

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Cf. similar if more elaborate item in the Metropolitan Museum of Art under accession no.74.51.661.

In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the kernos (κέρνος or κέρχνος, plural kernoi) was a stone tray to which were attached several small vessels for holding offerings. Its unusual design is described in literary sources, which also list the ritual ingredients it might contain. The kernos was used primarily in the cults of Demeter and Kore, and of Cybele and Attis.

Of biconvex profile formed with a rounded base and flared shoulder, everted rim; applied red-paint trellis design to the shoulder and rim. 519 grams, 14 cm wide

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Cf. Amiran, R., Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land, Jerusalem, 1969, p.46, photo 30, for the type.

The jar belongs to the Early Bronze Period I or II of Canaan, in red decoration with net pattern, and it is unusual having an oval cross-section. Many of these jars were found at Tell el-Far'ah.

Discoid with two line inscription to both sides. 10 grams, 21 mm

From the property of late Mr SM, London, UK, 1969-1999.

A restrung designer necklace comprising plano-convex, barrel-shaped, oblate and other beads, the centrepiece a pendant cone. 27.9 grams, 42 mm

Acquired on the London, UK, art market in the 1990s.
Ex London, UK, gallery.

A rectangular-section panel with fourteen columns of cuneiform text mentioning the foundation of a temple by Nebuchadnezzar II, translating as 'King of Babylon provisioner of Esagil and Ezida prime son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon and Ebabbara, the temple of Shamash in Larsa..[...]. 1.05 kg, 21 x 13 cm

Formerly in a private collection since 1980.
Acquired from the private collection of L.H., Staffordshire, UK.
Previously the property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.
From a collection acquired from various auction houses in the UK.
From the estate of Mr R.W., a private Wiltshire, UK, collector; thence by descent.

Accompanied by a copy of a five-page specialist report by James Brenchley.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12315 -215546.

Cf. cuneiform text relating to Nebuchadnezzar II and the restorations at Babylon on a terracotta cylinder from Babylon and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession no.86.11.282.

The construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem's temple are ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar II. He is featured in the biblical Book of Daniel and is mentioned in several other books of the Bible.

Comprising a flat-section penannular body with a medial panel of vertical lines; the finials formed as serpent or beast heads. 16.2 grams, 72 mm

UK private collection before 2000.
On the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.

Pentagonal carnelian plaque with dentilled lower edges, six transverse bands of calligraphic script. 81 grams. 96 mm

with a London, UK gallery 1971-early 2000s.

Discoid with an impressed menorah to one side, the reverse with an eagle(?). 1.27 grams, 13 mm

From the property of late Mr SM, London, UK, 1969-1999.

With short columnar base and bulbous upper body, broad rim with pouring lip. 4.85 kg, 13 cm

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Cf. Squitieri. A., Eitam, D. (ed.), Stone tools in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Ground stone tools, rock-cut installations and stone vessels from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, Oxford, 2019, pp. 237-238, and 275, for examples of similar type.

The later (2nd -3rd century A.D.) Rabbinic tradition emphasised the difference between the permanent mortar (makhtesh kevua) and the movable one (makhtesh metaltelet), with the first being automatically sold with the house, but the second sold only if expressly stated by the vendor. This form of movable mortar was common in the Levant throughout the second half of the 1st millennium B.C.

With triangular body, comprising a central rosette and herringbone borders; stem of the pin at the apex, rectangular panel above and S-curved securing loop. 17.5 grams, 16 cm

UK private collection before 2000.
On the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.