Luristan Bronze Vase

An Aramaean rectangular dish with sloping sides, an inward-facing goat-head at each corner; handle formed as a recumbent lion biting the rim; each beast with recessed eyes to accept inserts; ropework band to the underside. 698 grams, 22 cm



Windermere Collection, Germany, 1960s. American collection, Phillips, 1960s-1980s. with Fortuna Fine Arts, 2012. From the S.M. collection, 2012-2016. From an important London collection, 2016. Private collection. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00118561. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12164-218579. 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.

The Aramean civilisation produced superb specimens of vessels, in which the lion, symbol of royal power, was one of the most relevant decorative motifs. Vessels of this typology are already known from the Anatolian culture of Kültepe, the first Hittite capital, since the Middle Bronze Age. Also the culture of Ugarit (Ras Shamarra) produced cups with similar lion heads, in a period of 1500 and 1300 B.C.

Mixed group including a squat jug with strap handle and applied rouletting, a spout shaped like a cockerel and other fragments. 1.29 kg total, 2.5-13.5 cm



From a London, UK, collection, 1990s. 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.

Globular with flared rim, horizontal painted bands to the shoulder and equator, wavy line beneath and frieze of ibexes above. 768 grams, 15.7 cm high



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. 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.

The images of the ibex attested as the most ancient figures date back to the discovery of the beakers of Susa ca. 4000 B.C. There are several such beakers in the museums, all coming from the excavations of the prehistoric levels of Susa (later on becoming the Elamite Shushan, modern Shush, Iran). The ibex is portrayed in a non-naturalistic way, with the use of simple shapes, such as triangles. The horns of the goat arch back over itself, forming a circle over its body. The beakers of Susa have the following elements in common: the large ibex image, with exaggerated horns, and figures of wavy lines symbolising water and rain.