Central Asian Pottery Bowl with Kufic Inscription

Carved with squat, vertical sidewall and everted rim, frieze of entwined snakes with opposed heads between raised bands around the body. 881 grams, 17 cm



Acquired from a French gallery in 1982; thence by descent.

The stone is likely chlorite.

Depicting a rider holding the reins of a camel, the rider featuring a large head and hands while the camel is modelled with small head and slender body and legs. 13.5 grams, 40 mm



Collected from 1969-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK. Accompanied by a copy of a previous catalogue information card.

Such a figurine might have been worn as part of a necklace or bracelet for decorative purposes, Due to the tribal and sometimes nomadic nature of many of these populations, many Luristan bronzes were not of great size. Statuettes of local fauna have been largely recovered from North-Western Persian burials.

Modelled in the round with tight-fitting robe and carefully detailed tiered hairstyle; right hand raised to support a chalice; peg beneath the feet; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 301 grams total, 11 cm including stand



Acquired on the French art market. From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Iberian statuettes from 6th century B.C. were produced under the influence of Greeks and Phoenicians. Small votive offerings of priests, priestesses, and deities in bronze, were found everywhere in Spain. The body of these figurines is often reduced to a rectangular plaque, but the head, as in all these types, is of plastic work, a process which reminds the prehistoric terracottas from the Argive Heraeum and elsewhere. The curve of the nose, which gives the face a Semitic appearance, is not accidental, and underlines the Phoenician influence.