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LOT 1157
Mesopotamian Cuneiform Tablet
EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 1/8 in. (57 grams, 54 mm).
Tabular in form with short cuneiform text to one face. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceSpecialised 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.
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AUCTIONS:
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Seljuk Bronze Statuette of a Horse
Circa 11th-12th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Modelled in the round with stocky body, front and back legs united with an integral pedestal. 115 grams, 52 mm
Ex P.A. collection, Hertfordshire, UK, 1990s.
Seljuk metalworkers were inspired by their surrounding environment and fauna, but mostly forms of animals (like lion, tiger, deer, rabbit, peafowl, duck, horse, hawk) that seem to be following the Sasanid tradition. -
Neo Babylonian Agate Duck Weight with Engraving
Mid 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £585
Modelled as a duck with its head resting along its voluminous back, base engraved with a crescent, dots, lines and triangles. 11.8 grams, 28 mm
Collected from 1969-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK.
There are references to keeping ducks in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia from the third millennium B.C. onwards. One of the most common shapes for Near Eastern weights was 'the sleeping duck'. Representation demonstrates that the duck served chiefly as a meat source, even though a certain cultic significance must also be presumed: the crescent here engraved could be connected with the cult of Ishtar. -
Large Amlash Bronze Spouted Libation Vessel
Circa 1200-1000 B.C.Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,000
With a thin-walled body and flaring foot, a separately made long spout rivetted to the body; the U-shaped spout resembling the beak of a bird with stylised linear feather detailing to the gracefully curving neck, eleven domed rivets to the edges; the base of the foot with concentric circle decoration. 736 grams, 47 cm
Acquired in the 1960s. From the collection of Mr Jay Gluck (1927-2000) & Mrs Sumi Hiramoto Gluck. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12061-214190.
Jay Gluck was an American archaeologist and specialist in the history of Persian art. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1949 in Archaeology and Middle Eastern Studies. In 1966 he became director of the Asia Institute of the Pahlavi University in Iran. He is also well known for republishing the work of Arthur Upham Pope, A Survey of Persian Art.
