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LOT 1587
Western Asiatic Painted Terracotta Vessel
9TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.
12 3/4 in. (1.16 kg, 32.3 cm).
Bulbous body with four stub legs, tall neck and internal strainer, tall scooped edge to the rim, loop handle to the rear; body and neck painted with geometric motifs, red paint on the base and legs.
ProvenanceUK collection, 1990s.
Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000.
Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman.
See for a similar but not identical vessel Negahban E.O., Marlik: The Complete Excavation Report, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1996, pl.101, no.499.
FootnotesArtefacts from Amlash date from the late second millennium B.C. through to the Partho-Sasanian period, with most dated to the 9th and 8th centuries B.C. Zoomorphic drinking or ritual vessels are abundant in Amlash pottery and usually feature depictions of animals common to that region. Such vessels have been recovered across Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and they were known as Bibru. They were produced as ceremonial drinking vessels, dedicated to specific deities, but they might also have served as drinking vessels for the social elite and royal family members.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1587
Western Asiatic Painted Terracotta Vessel
Estimate £300 - 400€350 - 460 (for guidance only)$410 - 540 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Decorated Black Stone Bead
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13
Lozengiform type with dense, grooved geometric design. 2.03 grams, 19 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. -
'Professor Erlenmeyer’s First Cylinder Seal' A Neo-Sumerian Haematite Seal of Abbamu, Scribe, Son of Bazige
Mesopotamia, Third Dynasty of Ur, circa 2100-2000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £8,450
Finely carved in haematite with a formal presentation scene: a goddess sitting enthroned upon a dais, clad in a flounced robe and a multiple-horned tiara, her arm extended in reception; before her a similarly attired interceding goddess approaching, leading a robed worshipper into the divine presence; lunar crescent in the field, with three-line inscription within a panel: 'Abbamu, scribe, son of Bazige'; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 18 grams, 27 mm
From the private collection of Professor Dr. Hans (1900-1967) and Mrs Erlenmeyer, Switzerland. The Erlenmeyer Foundation, Basel Switzerland, since 1981. with Sotheby's, Western Asiatic Cylinder Seals and Antiquities from the Erlenmeyer Collection (Part 1), London, 9 July 1992, no.109. Private collection, London, UK. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Sotheby's catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13283-253486.
Prof Hans Erlenmeyer was a noted Swiss collector from 1943 to circa 1960; he and his wife established the Erlenmeyer Foundation. This seal is of particular note as the first cylinder seal given to Professor and Mrs Erlenmeyer. Its imagery belongs to the religious and political language of the Third Dynasty of Ur, when order was restored after the collapse of the Akkadian dynasty. In the eyes of the ancient Mesopotamians, that earlier collapse could be understood as a sign of divine displeasure; under Ur III, renewed piety and correct devotion assumed central importance. The presentation scene seen here reflects that world precisely: the seal owner is led by a minor goddess, or Lamma, into the presence of his personal deity. Seals of this class are valued for their exacting workmanship and disciplined clarity of design. Though they lack the freer energy of the Akkadian age, they possess instead a ceremonial gravity and devotional precision that are wholly characteristic of Neo-Sumerian art. -
Late Hittite Shoe-Shaped Vessel
2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,500
Hollow-formed shoe-shaped jug with rolled rim to the ankle, tab with hole for thong and stopper; welt-line to upper face and around sole. 585 grams, 23 cm
Private collection, acquired on the German art market in 1993; thence by descent. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13226-249313.
These upturned shoes are characteristic of the whole Hittite era. They are attested until the Late Hittite age. This kind of footwear appears later in the Aegean area, probably due to the influence of Anatolian fashion on Bronze Age Greek culture. It may have been the case that the Akkiyawa (Achaeans) living on the western coast of Anatolia adopted such items (as many others) from the Anatolian Indo-Europeans and exported them to the Greek lands, with the first examples attested in Greece only around the 14th century BC.
