Achaemenid Bronze Bowl

Conical ceramic bowl with low foot, slip-painted with chestnut brown band to the rim, three calligraphic panels to the inner face with interstitial red and black rosettes; 'Samarkand' ware. 607 grams, 22.5 cm wide



From the Steel family collection, 1950s-late 1990s.

Model horses each with splayed legs and a stub to the rump (to accept a rider figure?). 5.09 grams total, 37-40 mm



Private collection formed in the 1990s. Acquired from a central London gallery. Property of an Essex gentleman.

Complete and of spherical form, containing clay 'tokens'; the outer face impressed with enigmatic motifs. 190 grams, 64 mm



Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1988. Thence by descent to family members. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples. Accompanied by a copy of two previous illustrated and typed catalogue pages.

The tokens sealed within the bulla are believed to have been used as part of the accounting process in Sumerian or early Uruk agriculture.