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LOT 1249
Bactrian Bronze Stamp Seal of a Bird
2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 1/4 in. (298 grams total, seal: 58.6 mm).
Openwork disc with segmented detailing, mounted in a wooden frame.
ProvenanceEx London, UK, gallery, 1971-early 2000s.
London, UK, collection.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1249
Bactrian Bronze Stamp Seal of a Bird
Estimate £120 - 170€140 - 200 (for guidance only)$160 - 230 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£67 (EUR 77; USD 90) +BP*
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Western Asiatic Variated Green Stone Cylinder Seal with Cuneiform Inscription
1400-1300 B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
An unfinished court scene with seated figure in profile wearing a tall headdress facing a kneeling figure with arms bent; lightly incised, with space for cuneiform text; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 16.41 grams, 32 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. -
Western Asiatic Stone Cylinder Seal Group
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Comprising: a grey steatite seal with a geometric pattern; a concave grey steatite seal with a linear pattern; a black steatite seal with a zig-zag motif; a steatite seal with a man wearing a Syrian fur-trimmed skirt, a figure in a fringed skirt, partition, a frontal nude woman, partition, a figure in a skirt and a tree; a dark grey granite seal with three dashed figures; supplied with museum-quality impressions. 15.3 grams total, 12-19 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. Accompanied by a previous typed catalogue slips with collection nos.6, 7, 19, 42, 68. -
Western Asiatic Stone Macehead
4th millennium B.C.Estimate: £400 - 600 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
Oval in plan with a tapering drilled central socket. 360 grams, 81 mm
Ex private collection, Contessa L.G., since the 1980s. Private collection, acquired in 1999.
The mace was a close-combat weapon consisting of a short handle and a massive striking element—the head, a striking weapon capable of inflicting severe contusions and internal fractures. Although a very archaic and rather primitive weapon, the mace was nevertheless widely used in the ancient East. Its sacred and representative role was particularly significant. Due to its shape, it symbolised the owner's masculinity and was therefore one of the primary insignia of power, symbolising the inseparability of its civil, military, and sacred-magical essences—ensuring the functioning and reproduction of the collective and the conditions for its existence. This is why we so often encounter ‘ceremonial’ maces, especially those made of stone—in this case, undoubtedly a ritual material. However, it must be said that stone, as a material for a mace head, was in no way inferior to metal in terms of combat qualities, while being much more labour-intensive to manufacture, which was precisely what appealed to the ritual, symbolic role of this weapon.
