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LOT 1270
Western Asiatic Black Stone Seal with Cross
4TH MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 1/2 in. (124 grams, 64 mm).
Carved in the round, ellipsoid in plan with handle formed as a recumbent beast; underside with incised hatching; incised cross to one edge of the handle.
ProvenanceCollected from 1970-1999.
From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1270
Western Asiatic Black Stone Seal with Cross
Estimate £180 - 240€210 - 280 (for guidance only)$240 - 320 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Stone Jeweller's Mould Group
1st millennium A.D.Estimate: £250 - 350 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £125
Comprising: bifacial soapstone block fragment with incised roundel of a nimbate head with pouring channel, vent and locating hole, reverse similar with roundel of two opposed figures with fronds between, both faces with portions of other designs; larger rectangular block with pouting channel vent and two locating holes, roundel with rosette design. 59 grams total, 29-44 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Western Asiatic Artefact Fragment Group
1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £39
Including ceramic disc, architectural stone base and other items. 3.87 kg total, 5-18.5 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Mesopotamian Terracotta Cuneiform School Exercise Tablet
Circa 1950-1700 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Discoid in plan and lentoid in section, bearing cuneiform scribal work in large characters on one side. 250 grams, 10.3 cm
From a specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992. Thence by descent to family members and dispersed in 1988 in London and Geneva.
Such scribal tablets are always of this round shape. Type IV tablets, also known as 'lentils', are circular tablets containing one or a few lines of a composition written out once by the teacher and then a second time by the student, either underneath (typical of Nippur tablets), or on the reverse. This would appear to be an example of the former.