Loading, please wait...
LOT 2018
Large Cylinder Seal Electrotype Group
LATE 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY A.D.
1 1/2 - 2 7/8 in. (433 grams total, 39-72 mm).
Of academic interest, copper-coated lead seal impressions including presentation scenes, court scenes, bull-headed man in a frame; some with cuneiform text. [12, No Reserve]
ProvenancePossibly made by the British Museum.
From a West Country, UK, private collection.
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
-
Bronze Anthropomorphic Clothed Ancestral Effigy
Siberia, circa 17th-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Anthropomorphic figure (ittarma) with low-relief facial features, radiating beard, raised rim, bronze lantern-shaped pendant on cord around the neck; outer garment a sleeved coat in silken textile with open front; beneath, a fabric undergarment. 105 grams, 14.8 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
Such effigies, called itterma or ittarma are regarded as a temporary vessel for the soul of a deceased person. They were intended to maintain contact between the surviving descendants and the spirit world. -
Tudor Period Lead 'Horn Book' Teaching Aid
1600-1633 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,510
A rare complete and undamaged rectangular plaque bearing raised, moulded text on the obverse; with hatched three horizontal bars and two pelletted between five registers, framing the letters of the alphabet '+ABCDE / FGHIKL / MN[reversed]OPq / RSTVW / +Y[Z]'; tree with berries on a hatched field to the reverse. 26.8 grams, 53 mm
Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Kniveton, Derbyshire Dales, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.WMID-341C6A.
The letter 'U' has been omitted from the alphabet, as is common with such objects, as has the letter 'J', suggesting that the book was produced prior to the publication of Charles Butler's English Grammar (1633), which first distinguished between I and J. The letter Z is reversed. Hornbooks were employed as learning aids and commonly made from paper mounted onto wood, together with a transparent sheet of horn. Smaller, more portable lead-alloy examples such as this one are generally believed to have been mass-produced, whilst still falling within the genre of 'hornbooks'. -
Published Iron 'Peerman' Splint Holder
Austria, 18th century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
The sprung nip on a tall stem wrought with three S-scrolls for holding spare splints, on a tripod base. 1.7 kg, 68.7 cm
Ex Nic McElhatton, former chairman of Christie's South Kensington. Property of a Berkshire, UK, collector. Accompanied by a copy of McElhatton's cataloguing page. Accompanied by copies of the relevant book pages where published.
