Middle Elamite Glazed Faience Cylinder Seal with Feasting Scene

Modelled in the half-round with hollow reverse; thick band of hair above the brow, small deep-set eyes, broad nose and mouth with three raised bands extending to a short beard; mounted on a custom-made stand. 128 grams total, 11.5 cm including stand



London art market, 1995. Private collection, Switzerland. Private collection, London. 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.12971-245208.

Humbaba (or Huwawa) was a demon of Mesopotamian legend, most famously described in the Epic of Gilgamesh. He was appointed by the god Enlil as the terrifying guardian of the Cedar Forest, a place of the gods. His grotesque features, with glaring eyes and monstrous expressions, were said to strike fear into anyone who saw him. Babylonian representations of Humbaba often emphasise this fierce appearance, with distorted facial traits designed to ward off evil. Such images could serve an apotropaic purpose, protecting people and places from harm, while also evoking one of the most memorable figures of Babylonian mythology.

Divided into two registers, both showing a contest scene with a horned hero grappling with horned beasts; accompanied by a museum quality impression and a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Cream Stone, 28.5 x 12 mm. The engraved sides of this seal are divided into two registers by a single horizontal line. In both registers there is a contest scene. In the upper a standing hero with double belt around his waist succours a bovine on the right and an upended gpat on the left, both of which are being attacked by a lion. The body of the lion on the right crosses the body of a second bovine. In the lower register a standing nude hero succours two differentiated bovines, one of each side, which are being attacked each by a lion, but in this case each lion's body crosses that of a third and fourth bovine. This is a seal in the Sumerian tradition, c. 2500 B.C., from the Third Phrase [sic] of the Early Dynastic periods, and may come from Sumer itself, north Mesopotamia or south-east Iran. It is in good state of preservation and a nice example of its kind.' 8.83 grams, 28 mm



UK private collection, acquired 1990-1993.

Seals were the working signatures of the ancient Near East. Pressed or rolled into wet clay, they secured jars, bags, doors and tablets, and left a distinct impression that identified the owner, authorised a transaction, and showed whether a container had been opened. Stamp seals (pressed once to leave a single emblem) appear from the 7th–4th millennia BC and continue throughout later periods; cylinder seals (rolled to create a repeating frieze) developed in Mesopotamia in the late 4th millennium BC and are used into the 1st millennium BC. Beyond administration, seals were miniature artworks and amulets. Their images—gods and worshippers, royal hunts, banquets, heroes and mythic beasts—broadcast rank, piety and profession, and were believed to protect the owner. Materials range from soft stones to hard chalcedonies, haematite and lapis, worked with drills and abrasives to achieve crisp intaglio cutting. Many were worn on cords or rings and followed their owners through life, sometimes into the grave. Seals matter because they underpin the earliest systems of record-keeping and trade. Impressions on tablets and bullae are primary documents for ancient law, economy and religion; the seals themselves preserve that imagery in the round. For collectors, well-cut examples with sharp impressions, good polish and honest ancient wear are especially desirable, and pieces with early collection histories are keenly sought.

With a god shooting a sphinx; accompanied by a museum quality impression and a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Grey Stone, 39 x 12. Top and bottom borders are filled with rows of chevrons going in opposite directions, and the design between a kneeling god shooting at a facing sphynx with a bird's head. As filling motifs there are: a small tree or plant, a lozenge, a triangle and a crescent. At each end the stone is stained by remains of original bronze caps, and the bronze bar which ran through the central hole is still present, though the rest of the metal, save for traces, has disappeared. This is a Neo-Assyrian cylinder, c. 900-800 B.C., from Assyria itself, or from neighbouring areas.' 8.7 grams, 39 mm



From the private collection of a North American lady, formed 1970s-early 1990s, with collection reference no.P16. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert dated February 1992 and an old photograph.