Western Asiatic Polished Stone Macehead

Leaf-shaped blade with raised midrib and a tapering round socket. 128 grams, 27.2 cm



Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.

The spear, belonging to type 3 of the Khorasani classification, was used by chariot fighters to strike each other or the enemy infantry from above. Similar specimens with longer sockets were excavated by Negahban in the Amlash area. According to Moorey, sockets as long, if not longer than the blade, are a characteristic of spearheads in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium B.C. A similar spearhead from the Tappeh Sialk has been dated to the 9th-7th century B.C.

Plano-convex type with narrow transverse hole; possibly later incuse zebu standing with possibly later inscription above. 13.6 grams, 24 mm



Private collection, 1970s. Acquired Chiswick Auctions, 2 February, 2016, no.109. Private collection, London, UK.

Crescent plaque with granulated inner borders and radiating triangles of granulation surrounded by a band of nineteen spheres, representing pomegranates, each with a filigree collar above and below, the outer band consisting of smaller spheres with a granulated pyramidal finial, at the centre a teardrop-shaped garnet cabochon set in a cell with a granulated border flanked by spirals. 13.55 grams, 51 mm



Ex David Lindhal, London, UK, in the 1990s. From a privately held London, UK, collection from the 1980s-1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13267-253966.

Fruits were generally considered to be a symbol of sensuality, temptation and fertility; the giving and accepting of fruit may be regarded as a symbolic sexual act, or at least a prelude to marriage. It follows naturally that the pomegranate, with its innumerable fleshy seeds symbolising life and fecundity, was an attribute of Aphrodite.