Details

LOT 0221

Mitanni Brown Hematite Cylinder Seal with Winged Birds

CIRCA 1500-1250 B.C.

1 in. (14.4 grams, 23 mm).

Cylinder with cord and bead handles; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Description of Cylinder Seal of brown Hematitite (sic), 29 x 15.5 mm. Standing composite figure with human legs and body, but a bird's wings and head, is placed between a large recumbent horned quadruped with long neck and a smaller horned quadruped with short neck; other items; scorpion, hand, fish, star. The whole of the design in enclosed within upper and lower rules. This is a good example of the Mitanni "Elaborate Style", from anywhere between north-western Iran and the eastern Mediterranean. As is normal for such Mitanni seals, the cutting was done entirely with three semi-mechanical tools: the drill, the tubular drill and the cutting wheel. The date will be c. 1500-1250 B.C. The ancient name of the composite figure is not so far known. Save for a gash on the standing figure, the condition is fine.'; supplied with a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]

Provenance

UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983.

Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note typed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in October 1987.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.