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LOT 0207
Early Akkadian Shell Cylinder Seal with Presentation Scene
CIRCA 2300-2200 B.C.
1 3/8 in. (30.9 grams, 35 mm).
Depicting seated god facing three standing figures, restrung pair of red stone beads, old handwritten label '1648'; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Cream Fossil Shell, 35 x 22 mm. On the right sits a god, bearded, hair done up in a bun, wearing a horned tiara and a long, flounced robe, and raising one hand' before him stands a deity in a long robe falling in pleats and holding by the wrist a worshipper behind, who is bringing a kid as a gift to the seated god. The worshipper's wife stands behind him, with different hair style but similar clothing, holding a bucket in one hand. There is a crescent moon in the sky and between the two gods an oblong filled with circles; and a fish. This is an Akkadian seal from Mesopotamia or West Iran, c. 2300-2200 B.C. The presentation scene it shows was meant to be understood as the seal owner and his wife being introduced to an important god who could help them. The oblong object with circles in not certainly understood, but it may be a tray in which small cheese were put to drain.'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceArmand Trampitsch, Glyptique Archéologie, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 13-14 May 1992, no.23 [Part].
Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in 1992.
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.
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LOT 0207
Early Akkadian Shell Cylinder Seal with Presentation Scene
Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
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South Mesopotamian Stone Male Figure
2nd millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £156
Carved in the round with textured hair, holding an object to his left shoulder; in seated pose. 13.12 grams, 43 mm
Ex S collection, London, UK, 1970-1990s. 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. -
Luristan Bronze Bowl
Circa 1000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
With globular body, round profile and flared rim. 207 grams, 14 cm
Ex London, UK, collections, 1990s-2000s. 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 people of Luristan were nomadic, constantly moving in summer and winter pastures, and needed metal utensils. Therefore, in addition to weapons, these excellent metal workers produced, in considerable numbers, light and elegant bronze vases and cups. -
Middle Assyrian Brick-Shaped Tablet with Funerary Inscription for Adad-Shumu-lesir’s Tomb
1363-912 B.C.Estimate: £6,000 - 8,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,000
A rectangular brick-shaped tablet, inscribed in cuneiform script across three vertical faces, with a single column to the fourth and a continuation of text across the top surface; the inscription a funerary curse relating to the tomb of Adad-šumu-lešir, warning against interference with the burial, reading in part: "As for a stranger, or somebody who would approach that tomb, or would bring up a corpse out of it and bury his own within, or would touch the silver inside—Adad, Šamaš, or Nergal will fill his house and field with shortage, collapse, and murder. He will repay the property of that tomb sevenfold, dedicating it to Šuriha. For the offspring of Adad-šumu-lešir he shall be undone for taking out and bringing down objects in the tomb, and for burying another body within it. Month Kalmartu, third day, eponymy of Aššur-mušezib.” 333 grams, 14.3 cm
Acquired in the 1996. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12872-241667. 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.
Funerary inscriptions of this type are extremely rare survivals, serving both as legal texts and spiritual safeguards, invoking the major deities Adad, Šamaš, and Nergal to enforce the curse.
