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LOT 0238
Large Bactrian Green Onyx 'Hand-Bag' Weight
CIRCA LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
14 in. (11.6 kg, 35.5 cm).
Substantial mottled green and tan weight with arched handle; repaired.
Provenancewith Gallery Rosen Ancient Art, Tel Aviv, 1968.
Property of a London gentleman.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12261-218639.
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 different shapes; for a very similar example cf. Christies, London, 27 July 2020, lot 11 (sold for £25,000.00).
FootnotesAmong 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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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0238
Large Bactrian Green Onyx 'Hand-Bag' Weight
Estimate £7,000 - 9,000€8,120 - 10,440 (for guidance only)$9,450 - 12,150 (for guidance only)
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Islamic Manuscript, 'Explanation of the Astrolabe Al-Manadam' by Al-Hakim the Physician Muhammad bin Ahmad Al-Iskandarani
1289 A.H. (1872 A.D.)Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
Hardback with quarter-calf binding and cloth-covered boards; title page with naskh script text in a triangular block; text pages typically 18 lines of loose black-ink script inside hand-drawn bilinear frames with red titles and diacritics, ru'qah script headings, text figures, diagrams, numerical and text tables, perpendicular text-blocks; usage wear. 468 grams, 20.3 x 25.6 cm
From an important family collection started in the late 1950s. Property of a West London, UK, gentleman. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12276-220409.
Astrolabes were used to make astronomical measurements, specifically to determine the altitudes of celestial bodies, but over time astrologers and travellers devised many different uses for the instrument. They were especially useful to navigators in order to determine position when out of sight of land. This text explains the book 'The Astrolabe' and several ways in which the device could be deployed. -
Western Asiatic Gold Bead Group
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Including biconvex, annular, spherical and other types, some with granulation. 7.31 grams total, 1-10 mm
Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970s-2000s. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Figurine Group
1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £124
Modelled in the round, group of votives human and animal forms. 92 grams total, 20-51 mm
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.
