Details

LOT 0221

Levantine Black Stone Cylinder Seal with Walking Men

1300-1000 B.C.

1 5/8 in. (26.58 grams, 42 mm).

Cylinder with fractured upper end; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: ' Cylinder Seal of Black Stone, 41.5 x 19.5 mm. This seal is cone-shaped -- narrower at the top than the bottom -- and is engraved both around the sides and on the bottom. The top is broken off, and this would have contained a hole for carrying on a string. Around the sides a row of four walking men is depicted. They are shown in schematized shape, especially the heads which are round blobs with a point at one side for the nose. Three hold rods in their raised hand, the fourth grips a branch with the aid of the figure walking in front of him. All four have three horizontal cuts across their bodies from waist to thighs, and in three cases something flows out behind ending in a curve at the end, perhaps intended as part of their dress, a ribbon for example. This frieze is contained within lines above and below. On the base appears a standing quadruped with a small head and long curving tail. This is an extremely rare type of cylinder-stamp seal, Levantine in origin, and dating from c. 1300-1000 B.C. It is larger than most cylinder seals. The closest parallel is in the collection of the Dukes of Northumberland, now in the Museum of Oriental Art, University of Durham, published in Iraq 41 (1979) p.33f. and pl.xii, no.110.'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]

Provenance

UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983.

Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in August 1991.
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.