Mesopotamian Cuneiform Tablet Fragment

Biconvex in profile with flared mouth and ribbed loop handle; reserved discs and scrolls on a black field. 365 grams, 11.4 cm



UK collection, 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000. Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman.

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.

Representing an exquisite bull figure standing with his head turned dramatically to the left, depicted with large curled horns and inlaid white stone eyes, formed from thin hammered silver sheet in repoussé, depicting the bull as a hollow pendant, with the interior filled with natural bitumen; traces of an original suspension loop on the shoulder. 54.5 grams, 70 mm wide



with Mahboubian Gallery, New York, acquired prior to 1969. 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.13140-249434.

Objects of this type are understood to be ritual or votive pendants, produced not for everyday wear but primarily for dedication in temple contexts. Bulls, goats, rams and other herd animals with horns were thematically abundant in the Ancient Near East, especially around the Iranian plateau circumscribed by the Zagros and Elbruz Mountains and multiple deserts. There are representations of bulls as pendants or votive statuettes (Mahboubian,1997, pp.59, 213, 224, 225, 225, 235, 240), vessel stands (Mahboubian, 1997, pp.40-41), vessel protomes and rhytons from Mesopotamia to Caucasus.