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_900x900.jpg "Achaemenid Silver Lion Brooch Pair")
_200x200.jpg "Achaemenid Silver Lion Brooch Pair")
.jpg "Achaemenid Silver Lion Brooch Pair")
LOT 0224
Achaemenid Silver Lion Brooch Pair
6TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.
1 1/8 in. (22.3 grams total, 30 mm each).
Each a bow with balustered arms ending in a knop finial and curved catchplate; round-section pin with coiled wire collar; apex of each bow with the addorsed forequarters of two felines with stylised markings and facial features. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired before 1983.
Ex London gallery, 1990s.
Private collection, London, UK.
Cf. Hattatt, R., Iron Age and Roman Brooches, Oxford, 1985, item 718, for type.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Mesopotamian Stone Bowl Collection
2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £700 - 900 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £350
Barrel-shaped in profile with a flat base, ribbed rim to the tapering neck with raised rim; incised lines to the outer face. 199 grams total, 51-75 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London, UK. -
Simon Stylite Terracotta Pilgrim's Token
6th-8th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Plano-convex in section with impressed design of a nimbate figure crouching atop a column, flanked by levitating angels and standing nimbate figures, all within a pelleted border. 11.9 grams, 32 mm
Ex important Christian collection, 1970s. -
Sumerian Terracotta Bulla
4th millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
A bulla with oval stamped impression of two animals. 147 grams, 60 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 a previous catalogue page.
Small globular and hollowed clay balls are defined as 'bulla'. They are also known as ‘bulla-envelopes', some of which are plain and some displaying epigraphic, zoomorphic and/or figural decoration, impressed by either cylinder or stamp seals. Bulla first emerged in Mesopotamia and their earliest occurrence can be traced to circa 8000 B.C. Most know decorated bullae come from the Uruk area and offer an insight into its culture. This bulla represents a religious scene, indicated by the combination of the pyramid-shaped byre and the 'sacred herd', which are seen on the early Uruk seals. The symbol of the Mother-Goddess, presented in conjunction with the representations of sheep herd and byre, gave such imagery symbolic significance. The impression with two sheep depicted under the byre, might have been impressed by a stamp seal of the early Uruk period.
