Western Asiatic Bronze Medical Implement Group

Blade with folded upper and lower edge, cylindrical socket with projecting ribs formed as the necks and heads of birds, blace 'projecting' from the mouth of a roaring lion at the neck. 478 grams, 22.5 cm



Ex Parisian private collection. with Cuvreau Expertises Enchères S.A., sale 60, 21 June 2009, lot 105. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11876-206787.

With facing female figure beneath a bird flanked by a male figure in knee-length tunic and female figure in ankle-length robe. 7.63 grams, 25 mm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector, collection no.059. London collection, 2016.

Spherical hollow clay mass with the remains of impressions to the exterior and ceramic tokens inside; surface cracked. 169 grams, 61 mm



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 bulla envelope likely belonged to the Sumerian or Uruk culture. It is believed that there are less than 250 complete and fragmentary examples of this type of bulla envelope worldwide. This is one of only a handful of examples ever offered at auction. The bulla first emerged in Mesopotamia around 8000 B.C. The clay envelopes contain a number of pre-baked accounting tokens, which were used in commercial and stock-taking transactions. Placing the tokens inside the bulla greatly enhanced the honesty of the transaction, as the bulla would have to be broken or crushed to reveal its contents.