LOT 0268

Assyrian Hardstone Relief with Head of a Bearded Man

704-681 B.C.

4 1/2 in. (530 grams total, 11.6 cm including stand).

Rectangular frieze fragment with low-relief carving of a profile bust with short straight hair confined by a brow-band, segmented curls forming the beard, furrowed brow, one arm extended; handwritten label to rear 'from the Koyunjik palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh and incised legend 'KOUYUNJIK' and 'A'; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Allegedly found in the Koyunjik Palace of Sennacherib.
Ex property of a gentleman, UK, acquired in the 1970s.
Ex private collection, Oxfordshire, UK, 1988.
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 7 December 1994, no.235.
Art market, New York.
Ex private collection, Tokyo, Japan.
Private European collection, 2009.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate no.12880-241660.

Cf. The British Museum, registration numbers 1892,0526.1., 1970,0131.1. and 124802,c.; cf. also Directorate General of Antiquities, Assyrian Costumes, Les Costumes Assyriens, Baghdad, 1971, pl.49.

The image can be compared with that of a fisherman from the time of Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.). On his head, there is a fillet which slightly broadens at the front.