Babylonian Hematite Duck Weight

Plano-convex in profile with Pahlavi inscription to the underside; transliterated as: 'Vahnām ī shāhānshāh-kārframān' (meaning 'Behnām, Overseer of Work for the King of Kings'); Bivar notes in his summary: 'This specimen represents a previously unrecorded variety of the so-called "administrative seals" which are engraved only with an inscription defining an office, and have no pictorial motif. It is unusual in apparently bearing a personal name, and in designating its bearer as kārframān "Overseer of Work"....'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. 29.9 grams, 23.48 mm high



with Christie's, London, 25 April 2001, no.464 [Part]. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note typed and signed by A.D.H. (David) Bivar, 9 May 2009. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Christie's catalogue pages. 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.

An Aramaean rectangular dish with sloping sides, an inward-facing goat-head at each corner; handle formed as a recumbent lion biting the rim; each beast with recessed eyes to accept inserts; ropework band to the underside. 698 grams, 22 cm



Windermere Collection, Germany, 1960s. American collection, Phillips, 1960s-1980s. with Fortuna Fine Arts, 2012. From the S.M. collection, 2012-2016. From an important London collection, 2016. Private collection. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00118561. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12164-218579. 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.

The Aramean civilisation produced superb specimens of vessels, in which the lion, symbol of royal power, was one of the most relevant decorative motifs. Vessels of this typology are already known from the Anatolian culture of Kültepe, the first Hittite capital, since the Middle Bronze Age. Also the culture of Ugarit (Ras Shamarra) produced cups with similar lion heads, in a period of 1500 and 1300 B.C.

With frieze of robed figures in procession; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 1.16 grams, 14 mm



Ex Cotswold collection, UK, 1980-1990. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and 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.