Nishapur Cream-Glazed Calligraphic Bowl

Comprising: a fusiform ceramic bead with impressed cuneiform text in four columns; group of twenty-seven bronze coins and fragments; in old cardboard soap box with handwritten legend inside lid 'Bought from an old beggar Arab at Murood, in desert'; wrapped in fragments of old English-language newspaper dated March 31, 1928. 145 grams total including box, 1-56 mm



Early 20th century private collection, acquired March 1925. Subsequently Simon Chorley Art & Antiques Ltd, Gloucestershire, 23rd September 2010. Private collection, acquired from the above. In a box marked 'Found by ourselves in Desert at Murmood (?) March 1925'. 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.

Pillow-shaped fragment with cuneiform text to both broad faces. 35.3 grams, 42 mm



Specialised 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. 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.

Comprising: carnelian stamp seal with crouching ram motif, ellipsoid intaglio with standing bull. 8.07 grams total, 11-22 mm



From the private collection of Mr K.A., acquired in the 1990s-early 2000s. 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.