South Arabian Alabaster Male Head

Biconvex in profile with basal ring, carination, rolled rim. 275 grams, 11.5 cm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. 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.

Carved in the round with gusseted rim, shallow bowl with carved hand and arm detail to each side and cruciform segmented bands to the underside; lion-head carved in the round to the rear with segmented mane, sockets to the eyes and gaping mouth with hole for pouring liquids through the tubular junction to the rear, repaired. 357 grams, 11.3 cm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, 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.12193-222189. 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.

A bifacial sceptre head formed as a Master of Animals atop a collared tubular stem with flared foot; the finial composed of two addorsed birds standing on their backs looking up towards two birds' heads facing down and joined to slender crescentic arms representing slender beasts with ridged backs and roaring mouths, each in the grip of the Master standing crowned between them; the Master with tubular body, animal-like ears, prominent nose above a small mouth and wearing collars, neck rings and tiered headdress; waisted socket below; mounted on a display stand. 399 grams, 32.3 cm (526 grams total, 34.5 cm including stand)



Acquired between 1965-2020. Private collection, London. 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.

The small head belongs to the tubular idols with protomes of second type of ‘Master of Animals’, probably being a finial standard. This type, according to Chausidis, came to be with the gradual transformation of the ‘zoomorphic standards with a human head, whereby the front legs of the animals became integrated into the tubular pillar of the standards. It gradually began to be cast with the other elements, representing the neck and torso of the central anthropomorphic character that retained the two-faced feature of the previous type. The necks and heads of the animal pair separated from the rest of their bodies, which, in turn, gradually lost their original form and acquired new meanings.