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LOT 0289
Mesopotamian Stone Cylinder Seal with Court Scene
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
1 3/4 in. (17.7 grams, 43 mm).
With court scene: female figure with looped headdress seated on a four-legged chair with her raised arms from which two streams of liquid issue to the floor; to her rear, a guilloche panel with gryphon perched on top with small birds, advancing lion beneath; tall robed figure facing the female, with floor-length spilt robe, attendant with fan and objects in the field; bronze loop to one end; possibly some re-engraving; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
ProvenanceEx S. collection, London, UK, 1980s-2000s.
LiteratureCf. Teissier, B., Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals in the Marcopoli Collection, Berkeley, 1984, item 3, for type.
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Illuminated Vellum Quran Leaf
North Africa, 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Both sides with six lines of Kufic script in black and gold ink with blue and red accents, showing verses 18 & 19 of Surah 22 ('Al-Hajj' or 'Pilgrimage'). 16 grams, 26.5 cm
Acquired on the UK art market. Scottish private collection. -
Mesopotamian Terracotta Cuneiform School Exercise Tablet
Circa 1950-1700 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Discoid in plan and lentoid in section, bearing cuneiform scribal work in large characters on both sides. 153 grams, 81 mm
From a specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992. Thence by descent to family members and dispersed in 1988 in London and Geneva.
Such scribal 'practise tablets' are always of this round shape: Type IV tablets, also known as 'lentils', are circular tablets containing one or a few lines of a composition written out once by the teacher and then a second time by the student, either underneath (typical of Nippur tablets), or on the reverse. This would appear to be an example of the latter. -
Sumerian Alabaster Head
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Exquisitely carved in a naturalistic manner with sculpted nose and ears, rounded cheeks, forehead and chin; hollowed eyes probably to accept inserts, delicate incisions enhancing the facial features and adding wrinkles to the face; a hollowed tubular shaft to the base of the head. 17.14 grams, 31 mm
From a major London, UK, collection of Mr S.M., formed from 1970-1999. Accompanied by a previous typed cataloguing card.
