Details

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.

Provenance

with 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.

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 different shapes; for a very similar example cf. Christies, London, 27 July 2020, lot 11 (sold for £25,000.00).

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.