Western Asiatic Banded Alabaster Bowl

Comprising: two large tanged arrowheads, mainly of triangular type with mid-rib; two arrowheads with barbed shoulders, midrib and a stop on the blade with a long tang. 122 grams total, 12.7-15 cm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex Abelita family collection.

One category of the represented arrowheads has a sharp blade, the ends of which extend to form wings or barbs, and a prominent midrib extending into a long tang that has a stop; the blade shape varies from deltoid to more triangular. The other form has no barbs, but it has a prominent midrib extending to the tang, and a rhomboid or tringular blade. Godard claimed that both types of heads, barbed and not barbed, came from Luristan.

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.

Hollow-formed and drum-shaped with rounded rim; the sidewall with low-relief motifs of beasts and vegetation; underside pierced. 32.3 grams, 32 mm



Acquired before 1990. Ex London gallery, 1990s. Private collection, London, UK.