Western Asiatic Bone Idol Group

Sheet-silver vessel with drum-shaped body, narrow discoid repoussé base; bands of repoussé foliage to the body beneath a raised collar and fluted neck and rim; rectangular-section crescent handle held by two securing hoops formed as miniature rams. 1.2 kg, 26.5 cm wide



From an old private collection. with Oxus Fine Arts Pte. Ltd, Singapore. Acquired by the current owner in London, 2012. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12288-220840.

Dr Grigoriev, in his studies on Sogdian silver artworks, has traced specific Sogdian features of metalwork prototypes on the basis of the ceramic replicas. Some of these features were distinguished on gold and silver vessels, which possess many other characteristics bringing them together. In our bucket, the style and the decoration of the flowers resemble those of the bucket with deer from Shirokovskoe (Perm, see Marshak, 1971, T,35), while the bands of repoussé foliage to the body beneath the raised collar and fluted neck and rim recall the decoration of the dish with deer from Rep’evka, in Samara Province (Darkevich, 1976, n.12).

Shallow bowl with everted rim and low foot, the outer rim with painted petals and the inside with a chequered design with dots inside the lozenges. 168 grams, 13 cm



with a London, UK gallery 1971-early 2000s.

Irregular fragment of sedimentary rock with six short lines of carefully incised calligraphic text; mounted on a custom-made stand. 6.31kg total, 42.5 cm high including stand



Previously in the private collection of Joseph Knopfelmacher (1923-2019), a collector of Saharan artefacts, acquired by at least 1995.