Western Asiatic Bowl with Fluted Rim

A trio of wheel-thrown dishes, each with a shallow foot: a turquoise-glazed example with helical motif around the rim, roundels and central interlace motif to the bowl; a second turquoise-glazed bowl decorated with dark amorphous patches to the rim and an interlace-style motif to the bowl; a dark blue-glazed bowl with black strips to rim, three nodules to bowl, concentric roundels framing an interlace design; iridescent surfaces. 599 grams total, 14.5-15.5 cm wide

Fine condition, minor abrasions and nicks.

Private California collection, USA. With Artemis Gallery, Colorado, USA. Private collection of Professor Kenneth Graham, London, UK. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Artemis Gallery.

A bifacial, lentoid-section rectangular clay tablet with rounded corners and short sides, medial horizontal line to each face, with hand-drawn pictographs above and below, a count of sheep and caprids. 42 grams, 66 mm wide



Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992. Thence by descent to family members. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11637-198551.

Early writing was used primarily as a means of recording economic data; this tablet likely records deliveries and distributions of grain. At the end of the 4th millennium B.C., written language developed in Mesopotamia as pictographs, later evolving into abstract forms called cuneiform. Pictographs were drawn in the clay with a pointed implement. Circular impressions alongside the pictographs represented numerical symbols. Cuneiform (meaning wedge-shaped) script was written by pressing a reed pen or stylus with a wedge-shaped tip into a clay tablet.

A group of four plano-convex stone stamp seals, each drilled for suspension and bearing an incuse design to base: a quadruped; cockerel with scorpion; ritual symbols; accompanied by a museum-quality impression of each seal. 26 grams total, 15-22 mm



From a UK private collection, 1980-1983.