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LOT 1246
Achaemenid Bronze Flower Finial Collection
6TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.
2 1/2 - 6 3/4 in. (687 grams total, 62-175 mm).
Including two small buds with ferrous spikes and two larger blooms with square-section mounting pins. [4]
ProvenanceAcquired on the European art market, 1990s.
English private collection.
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AUCTIONS:
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Mesopotamian Terracotta Jug with Animal Head
10th-8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
Fusiform in profile with transverse ribbing to the front and vertical slot, beast-head finial, loop handle and five holes to the reverse. 512 grams, 27.2 cm
UK collection, 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000. Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman. -
South Arabian Alabaster Plaque with Bull's Head
3rd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Comprising a square panel with a bull's head in low-relief, striated eyes and flaring nostrils, a thick tuft of hair arranged between the eyes, shallow acanthus leaf between curved horns, inscription on the rectangular space at the bottom of the panel; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 2.09 kg total, 19.8 cm including stand
UK collection, 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000. Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman.
The presence of these representations in South Arabian cemeteries attests to the importance of the bull in the religious iconography of pre-Islamic Arabia. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
18th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Including triangular, leaf-shaped, barbed, paddle-shaped arrowheads with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib, and others. 205 grams total, 37-93 mm
Ex London art market, 1980-1990s. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Fourteen arrowheads of this group were typical of the Old Babylonian Empire. The shoulders were pronounced and the arrowhead had a rectangular-section tapering tang. This simple form was popular across the ancient Near East, and similar items have been found in the Holy Land.