LOT 0184

Syrian or Anatolian Black Stone Cylinder Seal with Human Figures

CIRCA 2500 B.C.

1 5/8 in. (38.78 grams, 41 mm).

Divided into two registers and showing human figures and animals on the lower register; accompanied by a museum quality impression and a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Black Stone, 41.5 x 21.5 mm. The engraved surface is divided into two registers by a band consisting of two lines separated by a row of alternately inverted triangles. The upper register shows two human figures sideways. The one, apparently male, hold one hand high while extending the other at the waist. The other, apparently female, holds an oblong object above her head in both hands. The lower register shows two confronting quadrupeds: the one with horns has lowered its head, the other with raised head may be intended as a boar to judge from the markings on its back. Also in the lower register there is a bird tête-bêche to the two animals, and something placed between its head and wing-tip. This is an unusual and impressive seal, from Syria or Anatolia c. 2500 B.C. It is in fine state of preservation. [No Reserve]

UK private collection, acquired 1990-1993.

Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in 1992.

Seals were the working signatures of the ancient Near East. Pressed or rolled into wet clay, they secured jars, bags, doors and tablets, and left a distinct impression that identified the owner, authorised a transaction, and showed whether a container had been opened. Stamp seals (pressed once to leave a single emblem) appear from the 7th–4th millennia BC and continue throughout later periods; cylinder seals (rolled to create a repeating frieze) develop in Mesopotamia in the late 4th millennium BC and are used into the 1st millennium BC. Beyond administration, seals were miniature artworks and amulets. Their images—gods and worshippers, royal hunts, banquets, heroes and mythic beasts—broadcast rank, piety and profession, and were believed to protect the owner. Materials range from soft stones to hard chalcedonies, haematite and lapis, worked with drills and abrasives to achieve crisp intaglio cutting. Many were worn on cords or rings and followed their owners through life, sometimes into the grave. Seals matter because they underpin the earliest systems of record-keeping and trade. Impressions on tablets and bullae are primary documents for ancient law, economy and religion; the seals themselves preserve that imagery in the round. For collectors, well-cut examples with sharp impressions, good polish and honest ancient wear are especially desirable, and pieces with early collection histories are keenly sought.