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LOT 1270
Western Asiatic Mixed Gold Floral Bead Group
1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
1/8 - 1/4 in. (2.89 grams total, 2-8 mm).
Comprising annular granule clusters and annular beads formed of two rows of hollow spheres. [16]
ProvenanceEx property of a late Japanese collector, 1970-2000s.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1270
Western Asiatic Mixed Gold Floral Bead Group
Estimate £300 - 400€350 - 460 (for guidance only)$410 - 540 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Stone Implement
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Square in section with segmented body and forked end; possibly a yarn-winding tool. 50 grams, 10.6 cm
with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016. -
Large Luristan Bronze 'Master of Animals' Bronze Finial
8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Formed as a Master of Animals atop a collared tubular stem with flared foot; the finial composed of two goats with heads returned and a looped band at the rump, above these two birds standing looking up towards two quadrupeds each with a bird's head on the rump; each in the grip of the Master standing crowned between them; the Master with tubular body, animal-like ears, prominent nose above a small mouth and wearing collars, neck rings and tiered headdress with addorsed bovine heads; waisted socket below and flared dentilled rim; mounted on a display stand. 916 grams total, 43 cm including stand
Acquired in Iran, 1967. Private collection, UK. 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 a search certificate number no.12824-241323.
The “Master of Animals” is a long-lived Near Eastern motif showing a central figure—human, heroic or divine—grasping two confronting beasts, usually by their necks or forelegs. First seen in late 4th–3rd millennium BC Mesopotamian seals, it spread across Iran, Anatolia and the Levant and remained current into the 1st millennium BC. Its meaning is straightforward and powerful: control over the wild, the protection of order, and the sanction of royal or divine authority. The image appears on seals, plaques and weapons, and in the round on bronze fittings and finials (notably in Luristan), where it likely marked status and carried an apotropaic force. For collectors, the type is prized for its clear silhouette and economy of form, the instant legibility of a hero mastering chaos, a theme as old as the first cities and as compelling today. -
Mesopotamian Stone Vessel
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Squat in profile with broad base, tapering sidewall and flared neck, flat everted rim. 990 grams, 10.9 cm wide
Ex Mayfair, London, UK, gallery, 2000s.