Tibetan Wooden Bread Stamp with Yak and Inscription

A rectangular suede leather manuscript made up from panels sewn along one edge into a long rectangle; sixteen blocks of regular Hebrew script, part of a Torah scroll, including the book of Leviticus. 577 grams, 63.5 x 247 cm



Private collection, UK.

Discoid seal with incuse design; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Stamp Seal of Bronze 23 x 24 x 10 mm This is a flat disc with a loop handle. pierced, from the same sheet metal attached to the back. The face shows a deeply engraved stag in a flying gallop. This is reported to have come from west-central Asia, and it fits the area and date c. 300-1 B.C.[sic] It has some incrustation on the surface which could be removed, but is in very good condition.' 6.06 grams, 24 mm



Ex 'S' collection, 1970s-1990s.

Squat lotiform bowl with wide everted rim, central domed mesomphalos with rosette detailing, some restoration to the rim; with custom-made box. 240 grams, 13.7 cm wide



Ex London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13067-248447.

This bowl is possibly part of a set of nearly identical vessels, probably used at the table of a high-status household, potentially that of a satrap. Persian governors (satrapes) used banquets to display their wealth and power by imitating royal banquets. It was a great honour for them to receive a drinking vessel such as this as a gift from the King of the Kings, thereby establishing their status as royal dinner guests. No doubt it took practice to drink adeptly from a vessel like this, yet the omphalos in the base would have made it easier to hold with one hand, with the middle finger hooked inside the indentation and the thumb stretched out to grip the vessel at or near the rim.