Western Asiatic Pottery Vessel with Handle

Plano-convex in section with transverse piercing; incuse image on the underside of a charging dromedary camel inside a circular Sasanian inscription; supplied with a museum-quality impression; very rare type. 8.9 grams, 20 mm



From a privately held London, UK, collection from the 1990s.

Mixed group of various beads, mainly in glass and stone. 159 grams total, 1-25 mm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex London, UK, collection.

Drum-shaped steatite vessel with broad flat rim; low-relief frieze to the outer face: dense vegetation panels with hatched treetrunks and fronds, resting quadrupeds, each with the legs folded beneath the body. 5.3 kg, 24.5 cm wide



Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13026-246787.

In Mesopotamia ancient stone-carvers produced a variety of vessels from soft soapstone (steatite) and pale yellow alabaster, along with jewellery. They include cylindrical boxes, cups, high open-rim vases and a few globular jars. Among it the most prominent products were the cups with tall, slender stalks, apparently intended for religious purposes. The repertoire of motifs of the ‘Intercultural Style’ includes vegetal, architectural, and abstract or naturalistic representations of people and animals, depicted in a carved and inlaid technique.