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LOT 1299
Mesopotamian Rock Crystal Cylinder Seal with Animals
CIRCA 7TH CENTURY B.C.
3/4 in. (5.25 grams, 18 mm).
With frieze in two registers: above, mainly running felines; below, addorsed pairs of gryphons sitting and bovines resting, solar disc above; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
ProvenanceEx London, UK, collection, by family descent before 1988.
Accompanied by a previous catalogue information slip.
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AUCTIONS:
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Large Neo-Elamite Decorated Bronze Pin
Circa 1200-800 B.C.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £400
Comprising a large circular finial with symmetrical repoussé design and a long tapering shank; the finial with a large central head with hatched hair and beard, possibly representing a mask of a deity; two addorsed ibexes below, each with a rosette above and foliage in front; at the top, two rampant lions flanking the 'Master of Animals' motif; the motif with pricked ears and wearing a two-tiered headpiece, a pair of zoomorphic figure emerging from his cheeks and grasp onto the flanking lions; mounted on a custom-made fabric-covered backing. 228 grams total, 43 cm long
Ex Rabi Gallery 1980-1990. From an important London, UK, collection. -
Western Asiatic Pottery Bowl with Two Idols
Circa 2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
Hemispherical bowl with two pinched lamps to the rim, inner face with two facing ladders, central rectangular recess with two integral bird figures, two anthropoid females placed against the sidewall; outer face with carinated rim and circumferential bands. 1.38 kg, 22 cm wide
Collected by the previous vendor's father in the early 1970s. Acquired from Bonhams, London, 13 April 2011, no.353. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages and the original Bonhams lot tag. -
Sumerian Terracotta 'Bulla Envelope' with Impressed Decoration
Uruk Period, circa 5500-3100 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Complete and of spherical form, containing clay 'tokens'; the outer face impressed with enigmatic motifs. 105 grams, 66 mm
Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1988. 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. The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples. Accompanied by a copy of two previous illustrated and typed catalogue pages.
The tokens sealed within the bulla are believed to have been used as part of the accounting process in Sumerian or early Uruk agriculture.
