Western Asiatic Bronze Seated Dog Pendant

Modelled in the round, the stag standing with legs firmly set, ears and antlers carefully modelled; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 291 grams total, 88 mm including stand



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.

In Anatolia, cult objects in the form of a deer found in the Royal Cemetery of Alaca Höyük, dating to the 3rd millennium B.C., suggest worship of this animal. This continued during the Hittite period where bronze statuettes of this type were widespread. The cult was widespread in the Mediterranean-Aegean world. Even on the remote island of Sardinia, similar cultic and votive statuettes were made.

Terracotta pillow-shaped tablet with grid to each broad face, each cell with an impressed image and a corresponding number of impressions from the tip of a rod, a list for the distribution of animals to the contrary reading: Obverse: Column 1 1. 2(N01) , U8 2 ewes 2. 3(N01) , UDUNITA~a 3 male sheep 3. 1(N01) , UD5~a 1 …-sheep 4. 4(N01) , MASZ2 |U4x1(N57)|# 4 goats day 1 5. , GAL~a SAL E~a (name?) Column 2 1. 1(N01) , U8 1 ewe 2. 4(N01) , UDUNITA~a 4 male sheep 3.a. 5(N01) , MASZ2 5 goats 3.b1. 1(N01) , |U4x3(N57)|# GAL 1 large 3.b2. 4(N01) , |U4x1(N57)|# TUR 1 small 4. , |SZE~a.NAM2| … Reverse: Column 1 1. 1(N14) , SAL E~a [...] 1 … 2. 1(N14)# [...] 1 … Column 2 1. 3(N01) , U8 (total) 3 ewes 2. 7(N01) , UDUNITA~a (total) 7 male sheep 3. 9(N01) , MASZ2 (total) 9 goats 4. 1(N01) , UD5~a (total) 1 …-sheep Column 3 1. , |SIxKU~b1| 2(N14) , BA MASZ GAN2 SAL E~a KISAL~b1 (interpretation: distributed in the SI.KU settlement, the wife of E.KISAL being responsible). 72.3 grams, 80 mm



From specialised collection of cuneiform texts, formed in the 1950s-1990s. The property of a London gentleman and housed in London, 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 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 a search certificate number no.12117-215351.

Pillow-shaped tablet with dense cuneiform text to two broad faces and one edge, concerning the listing of 146 sheep and their owners or shepherds. 202 grams, 78 mm



with Laemmle Gallery, San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, USA. Acquired from the above in the early 1970s. with Bonhams, London, 13 April 2011, no.133. Private central European collection. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12121-218147.