Western Asiatic Pierced Pottery Chalice

An arrow-shaped pendant with an integral suspension loop. 0.20 grams, 13 mm



Ex private British collection, formed in the 1980s. Property of a West Northamptonshire, UK, gentleman.

Restrung and comprising mainly spherical, elongated ovals, oblates, and biconical shapes; accompanied by a custom-made lined display box. 224 grams, 56 cm



Numismatic and Ancient Art Gallery AG, Ancient Art of the Mediterranean World, No 8, no.5, c.1982. Taisei Gallery, Gold & Silver Auction, Part II, Ancient to Renaissance, 5 November 1992, The Conrad Salon, The Waldorf-Astoria, New York, no.39. Private collection, London. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13265-253358.

The Sumerian word for silver is kú-babbar, which means ‘white metal’. Silver was mined from ores that contained significant amounts of other metals and impurities and therefore requires a great deal of further processing before it can be used. It was considered sacred and immutable, and an extremely high-status material, used for royal jewellery.

With an ovate blade, central rib and curved shoulders, the lozenge-section long shaft tapering towards the end, a rectangular tang with a bent tip. 830 grams, 40 cm



Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.

The spearhead represents a slender variant of type 1 of the Khorasani classification. The type 1 was characterised by a bent tang. It was the evolution of a typology which began much earlier in Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the type 4 of the Stronach classification, with a straight tang and square section, usually thickened at the base with a button tang.