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LOT 0288
Western Asiatic Gold Ring with Boar Gemstone
14TH CENTURY A.D. AND EARLIER
1 in. (8.63 grams, 25.72 mm overall, 18.95 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P 1/2, USA 7 3/4, Europe 16.86, Japan 16)).
With a keeled hoop and openwork shield-shaped shoulder with scroll ornament, a diamond-shaped shield with a cross to the base of the hoop; large bezel with an applied stylised bird underneath, the sides with pellet ornament in three rows, four claws holding the 4th-5th century Sassanian intaglio depicting a boar devouring the leg of its prey. [No Reserve]
ProvenancePrivate collection, USA, acquired in the 1990s.
Accompanied by a copy of a previous cataloguing information page.
Cf. Wenzel, M., Ornament & Amulet. Rings of the Islamic Lands (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art), London, 1993, no.292, for a silver ring of similar design.
FootnotesIt was a fairly common practice to re-use Sassanian intaglios in Islamic rings from Iran. In Eastern cultures the boar was a sacred animal with magical powers.
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AUCTIONS:
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Pillow-shaped in form with cuneiform text in dense rows to one face. 146 grams, 90 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. -
Holy Land and Other Terracotta Pottery Group
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Aramaic Terracotta Bowl with Magical Incantation
4th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With conical body, the inner face bearing the remains of concentric rings of inked magical Aramaic text, cracked. 393 grams, 16 cm
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.
Aramaic incantation bowls are particular to the Sassanian period and have been found in regions of modern Iraq. These simple ceramic bowls, also known as 'magic bowls': each contains 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 those faced in childbirth, from illness and from evil spirits.
