Mesopotamian Agate Cylinder Seal with Bull's Head

Pillow-shaped clay tablet with cuneiform text to both broad faces; chipped. 60.7 grams, 59 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.

Modelled in the round with tight-fitting robe and carefully detailed tiered hairstyle; right hand raised to support a chalice; peg beneath the feet; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 301 grams total, 11 cm including stand



Acquired on the French art market. 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.

Iberian statuettes from 6th century B.C. were produced under the influence of Greeks and Phoenicians. Small votive offerings of priests, priestesses, and deities in bronze, were found everywhere in Spain. The body of these figurines is often reduced to a rectangular plaque, but the head, as in all these types, is of plastic work, a process which reminds the prehistoric terracottas from the Argive Heraeum and elsewhere. The curve of the nose, which gives the face a Semitic appearance, is not accidental, and underlines the Phoenician influence.

Comprising a large quantity of beads in various shapes and sizes in glass, stone, coral and lapis lazuli, including some larger feature beads. 161 grams total, 2-27 mm



Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970-2000s.