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LOT 1243
South Arabian Alabaster Head of a Woman
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
9 5/8 in. (3.3 kg total, 24.3 cm high including stand).
Modelled with an angular nose with straight ridge, small mouth with raised lips, rounded cheeks and chin, shallow eyes with grooved outlines, shallow ears, short neck, the back and the top of the head left roughly tooled; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceUK collection, 1990s.
Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000.
Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman.
Cf. Cleveland R.L., An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis, objects from the second campaign (1951) in the Timna Cemetery, Baltimore, pls.4-5 for similar examples.
FootnotesThis finely carved calcite-alabaster head was probably unfinished, as can be seen from the absence of the holes for the inlay of the eyes and the unfinished ears. In the Arabian funerary sculptures of the period, the tops of the heads are usually cut off flat just above the hair line and left roughly tooled. The cut was due to the necessity of fitting them into niches of 'house shrines'. Large stelae with niches containing such heads were found in the Timna Cemetery.
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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Opening Bid: £300
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Western Asiatic Terracotta Jar
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £40
With trumpet-shaped base, thick stem, carinated bowl an everted rim; ribbed band to the equator. 1.06 kg, 16.8 cm
From the collection of a London, UK, gentleman, 1990s. 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. -
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3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
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