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LOT 1328
Proto-Sumerian Stone Stamp Seal with Two Animals
CIRCA 3000 B.C.
1 1/8in. (17 grams, 30 mm).
Plano-convex stamp seal with design of two crouching quadrupeds placed tête-bêche.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
The motifs have been created using a drill, hence the rounded appearance.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Late Achaemenid Bronze Phiale Mesomphalos
6th-4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £273
A broad carinated bowl with radiating repoussé panels, central slightly domed roundel, carination below the rim. 233 grams, 17.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Ring with Bull
2nd century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
With a D-section hoop, oval bezel with intaglio motif of an advancing zebu bull advancing left. 5.19 grams, 23.86 mm overall, 19.24 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O 1/2, USA 7 1/4, Europe 15.61, Japan 15)
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Mesopotamian Alabaster Offering Dish with Lion Handle
2nd-early 1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £18,000 - 24,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £10,000
An Aramean rectangular dish with sloping sides, an inward-facing goat-head at each corner; handle formed as a recumbent lion biting the rim; each beast with recessed eyes to accept inserts; ropework band to the underside. 698 grams, 22 cm
Windermere Collection, Germany, 1960s. American collection, Phillips, 1960s-1980s. with Fortuna Fine Arts, 2012. From the S.M. collection, 2012-2016. From an important London collection, 2016. Private collection. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00118561. 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.12164-218579.
The Aramean civilisation produced superb specimens of vessels, in which the lion, symbol of royal power, was one of the most relevant decorative motifs. Vessels of this typology are already known from the Anatolian culture of Kültepe, the first Hittite capital, since the Middle Bronze Age. Also the culture of Ugarit (Ras Shamarra) produced cups with similar lion heads, in a period of 1500 and 1300 B.C.
