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LOT 0222
Western Asiatic Steatite Seal with Animals
3300-2900 B.C.
2 3/8 in. (38.9 grams, 61 mm).
Rectangular in plan and triangular in section with a median hole, flat face with incuse frieze of ibexes.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Cf. a similar procession of Ibexes on a seal from Kish, in Wilson, J.A., Allen, T.G., Ancient Oriental Cylinder and Other Seals, with a description of the collection of Mrs William H. Moore, Chicago, 1940, fig.15.
FootnotesSome stamp seals from the period of transition between Jemdat Nasr and the Early Dynastic Period of Ur represent animals, and some scholars suggest that they were probably used as pendants or amulets. The animals are somewhat simplified and often reduced to mere lines: a file of animals usually forms the basis of such a pattern.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0222
Western Asiatic Steatite Seal with Animals
Estimate £600 - 800€700 - 930 (for guidance only)$810 - 1,080 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£333 (EUR 387; USD 450) ‡+BP*
-
Western Asiatic Cream Stone Bead Necklace String
1st millennium B.C. and laterEstimate: £50 - 70 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Composed mainly of oblate beads; restrung. 11.8 grams, 38 cm
Acquired in the 1990s. Ex London, UK, collection. -
Neo-Assyrian Haematite Cylinder Seal
Circa 800-700 B.C.Estimate: £120 - 170 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Opaque seal with a lion cub, a woman with raised arms, seven stars depicting the Pleiades, and a reclining gazelle; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 7.53 grams, 22 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. Accompanied by a previous typed catalogue slip with collection no.81. -
Large Akkadian Red Jasper Seal
Circa 2200 B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £333
Plano-convex in section with incuse animal forms to the underside. 82.8 grams, 66 mm
Private collection. Acquired from a Swiss collection, 2002.
The seal shows stylistic affinity with Akkadian seals representing animals. A few scenes of daily life occur on Akkadian seals, chiefly on the small number illustrating the history of Etana and the eagle. If Akkadian, our seal can be considered very rare.
