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LOT 0238
Large Old Babylonian Terracotta Cuneiform Tablet, a Legal Document in Envelope
CIRCA 2000-1700 B.C.
4 3/4 in. (437 grams, 12 cm).
Comprising a pillow-shaped tablet in fired clay with impressed cuneiform text to both faces; covered by a clay sleeve with further cuneiform notation; accompanied by an old handwritten slip: 'Envelope tablet: legal document. Old Babylonian c.2000-1700 B.C.'
ProvenancePrivate collection, 1980s.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Private collection, London, UK.
Accompanied by an old handwritten note by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0238
Large Old Babylonian Terracotta Cuneiform Tablet, a Legal Document in Envelope
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£500 (EUR 580; USD 675) +BP*
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Western Asiatic and Other Stone and Glass Necklace Bead Group
1st millennium B.C. and laterEstimate: £50 - 70 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Comprising mixed beads, including facetted barrel-shaped rick crystal beads, polygonal and tubular lapis lazuli beads, and others. 108 grams total, 2-28 mm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Assyrian Hardstone Relief with Head of a Bearded Man
704-681 B.C.Estimate: £7,000 - 9,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,500
Rectangular frieze fragment with low-relief carving of a profile bust with short straight hair confined by a brow-band, segmented curls forming the beard, furrowed brow, one arm extended; handwritten label to rear 'from the Koyunjik palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh and incised legend 'KOUYUNJIK' and 'A'; mounted on a custom-made stand. 530 grams total, 11.6 cm including stand
Allegedly found in the Koyunjik Palace of Sennacherib. Ex property of a gentleman, UK, acquired in the 1970s. Ex private collection, Oxfordshire, UK, 1988. Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 7 December 1994, no.235. Art market, New York. Ex private collection, Tokyo, Japan. Private European collection, 2009. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate no.12880-241660.
The image can be compared with that of a fisherman from the time of Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.). On his head, there is a fillet which slightly broadens at the front. -
Mesopotamian Terracotta Cuneiform Tablet
Early 2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Pillow-shaped tablet with cuneiform text on both sides, repaired. 127 grams, 78 mm
Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992. Thence by descent to family members. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This small collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well-preserved examples.
