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LOT 1459
Ottoman Period Engraved Silver Calligraphic Intaglio
LATE 16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (4.78 grams, 18 mm).
A circular mount with an X-motif on the reverse, the obverse with a three-line inscription; supplied with a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
Private collection, London, UK.
Cf. Gerelyes, I., ‘Ottoman seals at the Hungarian National Museum: connections between shapes, inscriptions, and materials’ in Gergely, S. (ed.), Communicationes Archaeologicae Hungariae, Budapest, 2023, pp.277-295, fig.5, for similar intaglio on a seal.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1459
Ottoman Period Engraved Silver Calligraphic Intaglio
Estimate £100 - 140€120 - 160 (for guidance only)$140 - 190 (for guidance only)
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Mesopotamian Steatite Bowl with Animals and Palm Trees
3rd millennium B.C.Estimate: £10,000 - 14,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5,000
Drum-shaped steatite vessel with broad flat rim; low-relief frieze to the outer face: dense vegetation panels with hatched treetrunks and fronds, resting quadrupeds, each with the legs folded beneath the body. 5.3 kg, 24.5 cm wide
Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s. 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.13026-246787.
In Mesopotamia ancient stone-carvers produced a variety of vessels from soft soapstone (steatite) and pale yellow alabaster, along with jewellery. They include cylindrical boxes, cups, high open-rim vases and a few globular jars. Among it the most prominent products were the cups with tall, slender stalks, apparently intended for religious purposes. The repertoire of motifs of the ‘Intercultural Style’ includes vegetal, architectural, and abstract or naturalistic representations of people and animals, depicted in a carved and inlaid technique. -
Islamic Style Turquoise Gemstone with Calligraphic Inscription
20th century A.D.Estimate: £50 - 70 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £5
Roughly oval in shape with an inscription at the centre with stars on the field, surrounded by a cross motif border. 1.41 grams, 17 mm
Acquired on the European art market. -
West Central Asian Bronze Chess Piece Type Seal Matrix with 'Union' Cross
Circa 2000-1500 B.C.Estimate: £60 - 80 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Discoid stamp seal with segmented face; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Stamp Seal of Bronze, 19.5 x 19 x 22 mm. The round flat face is compartmented, and the solid back rises to a pierced knob handle. The design divided the circle into four parts with two crossing lines, and within each quarter there is a short line starting from the rim but not reaching the centre. This is a seal from west the Bronze Age of west central Asia, probably dates to c. 2000-1500 B.C. There is some incrustation on the surface, which could be removed, and the metal is in very good condition.' 14.2 grams, 22 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Ex property of a West London businessman. Academically researched and catalogued by the late Professor Lambert in the early 1990s. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly report, numbered B-34, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert.
