Western Asiatic Decorated Terracotta Dipper Cup

Flat-based bowl, inscribed in spiral from the bottom inner wall to the rim with Aramaic text. 360 grams, 17.6 cm



Private collection, 1980s. UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London, UK

Aramaic incantation bowls are particular to the Sasanian period and have been found in the regions of modern Iraq. These simple ceramic bowls, also known as magic bowls, each contain an Aramaic inscription, written in ink, which spirals from the centre. The bowls seem to have played an important part in domestic life. For example, during excavation in Nippur in 1889, one or more incantation bowls were found in each house together with domestic artefacts, most often in doorways or under floorboards in the corner of rooms. The bowls are predominantly apotropaic, and the inscriptions tend to protect their owners from misfortunes such as childbirth, illness and evil spirits.

Graduated group of turquoise-coloured beads, the central feature composed of large melon beads; restrung. 22.2 grams, 40 cm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex London, UK, collection.

One of the largest known examples, comprising a thin-walled body and flaring foot, a separately made long spout rivetted to the body; the U-shaped spout resembling the beak of a bird with stylised linear feather detailing to the gracefully curving neck, eleven domed rivets to the edges; the base of the foot with concentric circle decoration. 735 grams, 46 cm



Believed to have been acquired in the 1960s-1970s. From the collection of Mr Jay Gluck (1927–2000) and Mrs Sumi Hiramoto Gluck. Malter Galleries Inc., Auction 80, The Gluck Collection of Ancient Art, 7 April 2002, no.54. Alexander Ancient Art, Netherlands. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13314-257665.

Jay Gluck (1927–2000) was an American author, art historian, and orientalist who spent much of his life in Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region. A passionate collector and scholar of Asian art and culture, he is perhaps best known for his landmark publication Japan Inside Out (1964), and later A Survey of Persian Handicrafts (1977), co-authored with his wife Sumi Hiramoto Gluck, a Japanese-born artist and cultural collaborator who shared his deep engagement with Eastern art traditions. Together, the Glucks assembled a distinguished collection reflecting their combined expertise and decades of firsthand engagement with the arts of Asia and the ancient world. Items from their collection are held with great regard for the couple's scholarly rigour and the depth of provenance they represent.