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Details
LOT 0310
Bactrian Stone 'Hand Bag' Ceremonial Weight
LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
10 3/4 in. (9.95 kg, 27.5 cm).
Rectangular block with round-section loop handle.
Provenance
Ex West London, UK, collection, 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.
Literature
See Vidale, M., Treasures from the Oxus: The Art and Civilisation of Central Asia, London, 2017, pp.44-51, figs.41-45, for a variety of stones and shapes.
Footnotes
Among the most iconic intercultural style objects are the so-called 'lock' or 'hand bag' weights. These were probably not weights at all, but were likely badges of high office, carried to indicate authority. Similar objects have been found throughout Mesopotamia, the islands of the Persian Gulf, on the Iranian steppe, as well as the Indus Valley.
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