Large Western Asiatic Red Terracotta Spouted Jug with Handle

Pillow-shaped with impressed text to both faces; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Clay tablet 58x64 mm. with 26 Compartments and One Column of Sumerian Cuneiform. This is oblong with rounded sides and edges. each side is divided into 3 columns, and all but the last two are filled with script. This is some kind of legal document from a Sumerian city not so far known for such texts. The first five columns list items, each with a number and followed by a compartment of a different kind. The last column, on the reverse, is different from the others in giving the name and title of an official who in some way presided over the transaction here recorded. Since it is without exact parallel, it is difficult to translate even when the text is clear (there is some surface damage and one corner is broken off). The items given start with "one donkey", and include a quantity of barley (3 gur of barley), "one shekel of refined silver," and "two iku" (acres of agricultural land) is the last item. after which the document concludes: "Mr Enshaga was their seller." Other items are followed by, apparently, personal names, but only once at the end does "was their seller" appears. More study and more similar documents are needed to clear up the problems. The last column begins clearly enough: Ege-anda, Nugig but the final line is not clear. Nugig is a title of a priestess, but only here, it seems, is such a lady a high official giving her blessing to the sale just recorded. This is a most interesting Sumerian document dating to the later early Dynastic periods, c. 2500 B.C.' 95 grams, 64 mm



Ex private collection of Mr S H; thence by descent,1980-1990. Accompanied by an original typed and signed scholarly note by the late W.G. Lambert, Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Broad and squat with flared foot, loop handle, all U-section spout and strainer; raised bosses to shoulder each set with a glass inlay; reserved tendrils and flowers on a black field. 717 grams, 31.5 cm



UK collection, 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000. Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Comprising a round-section shank with raised oval bezel bearing an inscription. 3.07 grams, 20.74 mm overall, 15.56 mm internal diameter (approximate size British I 1/2, USA 4 1/2, Europe 8.07, Japan 7)



Private collection of Mr K.A., acquired in the 1990s–early 2000s. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.