Mesopotamian Cuneiform Clay Foundation Cone

The figure with two pierced ears and painted face detailing, neck ornamentation and arm bangles, continuing to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 61 grams total, 13 cm high including stand



Ex UK collection formed in the 1980s. Acquired on the London art market. Accompanied by an Artemission, London SW5, certificate of authenticity.

Terracotta was a favoured material for the production of idols in the ancient Near East, the idols themselves representing deities, particularly goddesses that were connected to fertility. Such idols could even represent worshippers themselves. The Neo-Hittite civilisation, also known as the 'Syro-Hittite' civilisation, existed during the Iron Age in the areas that are now modern day northern Syria and Southern Anatolia. The Hittite empire collapsed around the 12th century B.C., an event which was proceeded by the decline of the Eastern Mediterranean trade networks, together with the fall of the major late Bronze Age cities in the Levant, Anatolia, and the Aegean.

Modelled with stylised facial features and shoulder-length hair; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 39.9 grams total, 71 mm including stand



English private collection, 1987. Richard Rooney stand, 1990s.

Roughly pillow-shaped in form and bearing cuneiform text to one face; repaired. 43.9 grams, 52 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.