Western Asiatic Painted Pottery Chalice

Formed as a stylised animal with stocky waisted body formed from conjoined bulbs, long tail, flared neck developing to a spout with lugs, loop handle to the middle back and filler-hole to the rump; painted with bands of running scroll designs and bands. 537 grams, 15 cm wide



From the Steel family collection, 1950s-late 1990s.

Accompanied by a typed and signed scholarly note written 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, which states: 'This is round, with outer scalloped edge. The face is flat, and so is the back, with angular pierced handle mounted. The design on the face is both compartmented and open-work. It is repeated on the back with linear scratching. It shows a standing man holding a hare in each of his outstretched arms, while two birds are perched on his shoulders. The whole design is put within an outer band with the outer scalloped rim. This comes from west central Asia and dates to c. 2300-2000 B.C. It is extremely large and has a rare, possibly unique design. The engraving on the back is rare with its regularly notched edges to all the creatures. The outer rim is dented, and one small section of the outer band is lacking, but otherwise it is in good condition.' 82.8 grams, 87 mm



Ex S Collection, London, UK, 1970-1990s. Accompanied by a typed scholarly note signed 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 with reference no.R-910.

Holes close to the rim for attachment of a lining; the surface executed in repoussé technique, filled by scenes horizontally divided with guilloche of two interlaced serpents; in the lower register two opposed lions (an antithetic pair, a lion and a lioness), both in profile, attacking a boar; the lions with open jaws and prominent muscles; the mane marked, and the tails forming a reversed S-curve between the hind legs; the anterior part of the boar collapsing under the lion's attack; rosettes filling the field and in the upper register, two large bosses separating three semi-human figures, maybe representing evil spirits, advancing in crouching pose with elbows bent and hands palm-upwards, rosettes and fungi in the field, their arms elevated in prayer; restored. 495 grams, 42 x 25 cm

Fine condition, with a beautiful greenish patina.

From the collection of a West London businessman, formed in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Property of an important West London collector. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. Accompanied by a metallurgic analytical report, written by metallurgist Dr Brian Gilmour of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, report number 618/129067. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11982-209461.

Our specimen is a well preserved decorative votive plaque of Early Achaemenid age, although some elements could suggest the plaque as belonging to the late Elamite period. Usually these plaques are rectangular in shape and contain one or more figures. One of the predominant figures is the lion, an old symbol of power in Ancient Mesopotamia. It appears often in a similar form, for example in the Achaemenid seals (Schmidt, 1957, pp.42-44), as a hunter. The king of the beasts was considered a worthy foe, but sometimes was used as a symbol of the dynasty. Boars are also visible in seal patterns (Rawlinson, 1881, p. 240; Schmidt, 1957, pp.12,15,40,41,49). The rosette motif is well known in the Achaemenid art, like on Miho's Artaxerxes plate (Soudavar, 1999, p.11) or in decorated architectural fragments left on the ground in Persepolis (Soudavar, 1999, p.20 fig.14), and, more important, in the famous Otane's plaque (Soudavar, 1999, p.29 fig.32; p. 42 fig. 41a-b-c) or on the plaque reporting the Behistun text (Soudavar, 1999, p. 56 fig. 45). The rosette is a representation of solar emblems, and it is already visible in works of the first millennium B.C. (Muscarella, 2013, pp. 682-683, 781), and on the diadems of the Elamite rulers represented in the Achaemenid art. The representation of the Anshānite sun flower under a rosette vary in shapes and it is not always clear whether it predates the Darian Persepolitan style. Here, the presence of convex more than concave rosettes points more to a date anterior to Darius' kingdom (522-486 B.C.). The representation of the snakes is singular, considering that there is a general negativity in the Persian ancient culture associated with the word (snake) and the animosity that Zoroastrianism developed towards snakes. However, according to the Shāhnāmeh, the discovery of fire was ushered by the appearance of a magical snake, at which the legendary king Hushang threw a stone; it missed its mark but hit another stone and produced sparks that lit a fire. The Achaemenid Empire dominated the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean for about two centuries, from the mid-sixth to the mid-fourth BC, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great and the last Persian king, Darius III Codomannus, was killed by his generals. It was one of the largest empires in the world and in many ways one of the most successful. Votive plaques were dedicatory offerings in the temple, like a modern ex-voto. The motive of the boar hunt in Achaemenid art is visible on seals, and represents the warriors (lions) hunting the enemy (ibex, boar), a typical war-training exercise for soldiers, commanders and princes. The theme of the boar hunt by Persian warriors has traditionally been associated closely with later Achaemenid glyptic from the western realms of the empire, but in this ancient plaque representation the lions appear symbolically replacing the warriors.