Large Western Asiatic Stone Stamp Seal with Incised Design

Formed from a single sheet, the ovoid base carinated with plain upper portion, slightly flared lip to the rim. 95 grams, 10.4 cm



Acquired from a private UK collection prior to 1979. Ex Julian Sherrier collection, a leading figure in Gandharan art. with Christie's, New York, sale 2337, 14th September 2010, no.56A (part). Accompanied by the original Christie's lot ticket. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12961-244455.

The taste for beautifully decorated cups and drinking vessels was a hallmark of the later Seleucid Empire and early Arsacid Dynasty. Various beakers and cups were used by the Parthians according to the style of the Hellenized East.

Pentagonal in plan with scooped ogival upper edge, shallow sides and slider-bar to reverse; high-relief decorative motifs of rosette and radiating stems and leaves. 18.25 grams, 43 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Trapezoid blade with narrow butt and curved cutting edge, rectangular in cross-section. 264 grams, 18.5 cm



Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.

This was one of the commonest tool types in the Early and Middle Cypriot Bronze Age, but rarer in the Late Bronze Age. These axes were fixed to a wooden shaft with thongs.