Western Asiatic Gold Ring with Calligraphic Gemstone

Divided into two registers, both showing a contest scene with a horned hero grappling with horned beasts; accompanied by a museum quality impression and a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Cream Stone, 28.5 x 12 mm. The engraved sides of this seal are divided into two registers by a single horizontal line. In both registers there is a contest scene. In the upper a standing hero with double belt around his waist succours a bovine on the right and an upended gpat on the left, both of which are being attacked by a lion. The body of the lion on the right crosses the body of a second bovine. In the lower register a standing nude hero succours two differentiated bovines, one of each side, which are being attacked each by a lion, but in this case each lion's body crosses that of a third and fourth bovine. This is a seal in the Sumerian tradition, c. 2500 B.C., from the Third Phrase [sic] of the Early Dynastic periods, and may come from Sumer itself, north Mesopotamia or south-east Iran. It is in good state of preservation and a nice example of its kind.' 8.83 grams, 28 mm



UK private collection, acquired 1990-1993.

Seals were the working signatures of the ancient Near East. Pressed or rolled into wet clay, they secured jars, bags, doors and tablets, and left a distinct impression that identified the owner, authorised a transaction, and showed whether a container had been opened. Stamp seals (pressed once to leave a single emblem) appear from the 7th–4th millennia BC and continue throughout later periods; cylinder seals (rolled to create a repeating frieze) developed in Mesopotamia in the late 4th millennium BC and are used into the 1st millennium BC. Beyond administration, seals were miniature artworks and amulets. Their images—gods and worshippers, royal hunts, banquets, heroes and mythic beasts—broadcast rank, piety and profession, and were believed to protect the owner. Materials range from soft stones to hard chalcedonies, haematite and lapis, worked with drills and abrasives to achieve crisp intaglio cutting. Many were worn on cords or rings and followed their owners through life, sometimes into the grave. Seals matter because they underpin the earliest systems of record-keeping and trade. Impressions on tablets and bullae are primary documents for ancient law, economy and religion; the seals themselves preserve that imagery in the round. For collectors, well-cut examples with sharp impressions, good polish and honest ancient wear are especially desirable, and pieces with early collection histories are keenly sought.

Stepped frame with bands of granulation and four small suspension loops, inset oval banded agate cabochon. 14.6 grams, 50 mm



Yvette Raoux, Paris, 1960s-1980s. Acquired by the current owner in 1989. with Christie's, Ancient Jewelry, New York, 6 December 2007, no.466. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12977-243176.

Comprising a tapering sidewall with carination and convex underside, trumpet-shaped foot with beaded rim; D-shaped thumb-pad to the rim with narrow chamfered handle and spur beneath; frieze of fronds reserved against a pounced field. 67.7 grams, 86 mm



Old Belgian private collection, 1970s. Acquired on the Brussels art market, 2008. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12908-242700.

Footed silver cups with ring handles were well known in Central Asia and were common in Sogdian silverwork of the 7th – 8th century A.D. The low beaded foot and the ring handle with lobed thumb rest are well documented in Sogdian silver attributed to the same period. The plant and floral decoration finds parallel with a silver bowl from Xijao (Marshak, 1999, fig.6), which shows the same low beaded foot of our cup. This decoration is also visible on a vessel from the Malaya Perescepina treasure, sent by the Emperor Heraclius to the Bulgarian Khan Kuvrat. Heraclius took it together with other precious objects as war booty after defeating the Sasanians in 627-628 A.D.