Western Asiatic Pale Stone Bead Necklace String

Showing a man on a standing bull, grabbing the hair of a captive with his right hand. 84 grams, 51 mm high



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. 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.

The statuette can represent the god storm Hazor, a storm deity with lunar traits. The association between a bull and storm deities is well known on Anatolian sealings from 20th-19th century B.C. The portrayal of a god standing on a bull in conjunction with lunar symbols derived from Old Babylonian cult, where the bull was connected with the Moon as a goddess, and continued in the Near East in association with the god Hazor, identified with El, head of the Canaanite pantheon.

Paper leaf from a manuscript mounted in a rectangular veneer reveal; Side A: gilt-bordered painted miniature with in two bands of calligraphic text divided into four blocks; nobleman in floor-length robe wearing a crown and turban sitting on a gilt throne with floral decoration, stroking his beard; two courtiers to his rear and a third to one side; standing military figure in helmet and mailcoat, with a scabbarded shamshir at his side, greaves and poleyns on his legs; all set in a garden with fountain and verdure; Side B: four columns of calligraphic text in 29 lines; signature to the bottom left. 90 grams, 40.2 x 28 cm



Private collection, UK.

Cushion-shaped, tabular bead with creamy inclusions; very rare. 44 grams, 55 mm



Collected from 1979-1999. From the collection of the late Mr Shlomo Mousiaffee, London, UK. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London.