Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 1116
Sumerian Stone Cylinder Seal with Animals
3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
1 1/4 in. (19.3 grams, 31 mm).
With scene of stylised lions hunting antelopes; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
Provenance
From the collection of the late S, London, UK, 1970-2000.
Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the 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.
VETTING:
TimeLine 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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 1116
Sumerian Stone Cylinder Seal with Animals
Estimate £500 - 700€580 - 810 (for guidance only)$680 - 950 (for guidance only)
RELATED LOTS
-
Western Asiatic Bronze Bowl
Late 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
A shallow bowl with thickened rim and convex base. 224 grams, 17 cm
Ex London, UK, collections, 1990s-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. -
.jpg)
Neo Babylonian Agate Stamp Seal with Star and Moon
7th-6th century B.C. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £260
Conical body pierced through the top, underside engraved with a crescent moon and star above, sun and an altar(?) below. 7.33 grams, 21 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. 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. -
Middle Assyrian Brick-Shaped Tablet with Funerary Inscription for Adad-Shumu-lesir’s Tomb
1363-912 B.C.Estimate: £6,000 - 8,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,000
A rectangular brick-shaped tablet, inscribed in cuneiform script across three vertical faces, with a single column to the fourth and a continuation of text across the top surface; the inscription a funerary curse relating to the tomb of Adad-šumu-lešir, warning against interference with the burial, reading in part: "As for a stranger, or somebody who would approach that tomb, or would bring up a corpse out of it and bury his own within, or would touch the silver inside—Adad, Šamaš, or Nergal will fill his house and field with shortage, collapse, and murder. He will repay the property of that tomb sevenfold, dedicating it to Šuriha. For the offspring of Adad-šumu-lešir he shall be undone for taking out and bringing down objects in the tomb, and for burying another body within it. Month Kalmartu, third day, eponymy of Aššur-mušezib.” 333 grams, 14.3 cm
Acquired in the 1996. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12872-241667. 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.
Funerary inscriptions of this type are extremely rare survivals, serving both as legal texts and spiritual safeguards, invoking the major deities Adad, Šamaš, and Nergal to enforce the curse.
