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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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Western Asiatic Stone Bead Collection
1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £143
Comprising several hundred mixed small beads, mostly round or tubular forms, in red carnelian and other materials; all pierced for stringing. 108 grams total, 4-19 mm
UK gallery, early 2000s. -
Islamic Manuscript Pair, The Science and Chemistry of Precious Stone and Minerals; and Book on Magic
Tangier, 1139 A.H. (1726 A.D.)Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Rebound as a hardback with cloth binding to spine and envelope flap, marbled boards; title page with naskh script text in a triangular block; text pages typically 25 lines of cramped black-ink script with red titles and diacritics; second quire with looser black-ink script, 22 lines per page with perpendicular marginal notes and numerical grids. 268 grams, 17 x 23.5 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.12278-220407.
The texts are (1) 'Revealing and explaining the nature of precious stones and minerals in the Science of Chemistry' by Sheikh Shihab al-Din Ahmad bin Ahmad Zarruq al-Fassi, written out by Sahnoun bin Muhammad al-Wansharisi in 1139 A.H. (1726 A.D.) (2) 'Iwamie altaerif fi matalie altasrif' (On magic) written by Iman Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Ghazali al-Tusi who died in 505 A.H. (1111 A.D.). This copy was made in Tangier in 1139 A.H. (1726 A.D.). -
Amlash Bronze Mother and Child Amulet
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Figurine with large piriform head, standing nude holding a baby across her chest; with keeled nose and bulbous eyes, exaggerated lentoid mouth; the baby wrapped in covering, with pellet eyes; loop to rear of head. 29.9 grams, 61 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
