Western Asiatic Stone Bead Necklace

Rectangular carved furniture panel with raised frame above and below the central figure modelled in the half-round; the figure an advancing gryphon with head raised and wings spread, hair falling in three locks to the shoulder, tail raised; the wing with raised rims to the feathers forming cells to accept an inlay in contrasting colour; remains of tenons above and below; Phoenician style; mounted on a custom-made stand. 274 grams total, 10 cm wide including stand



Ex Florida collection, purchased from Kelekian, New York, prior to 1970. Acquired by the current owner from the above. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11971-209611.

The figure is shown with the head raised; the example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is very similar, is eating the flowers of a tiered papyrus plant. Many such plaques were manufactured in workshops at Nimrud, but some may have been plundered from the treasuries of defeated enemies.

Restrung designer group of butterfly-shaped steatite beads with a feature pendant with two oval and one oblate bead. 25.6 grams, 54 cm long



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

Shaped as a crescent moon with pearled border. 5.08 grams, 45 mm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

The gold lunula was a characteristic type of necklace, collar, or crescent-shaped pendant of the late Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and most often early Bronze Age. The crescent appears in various forms in the material culture of the southern Levant. It also appears in Mesopotamian and Egyptian iconography. It is most frequently associated with the crescent moon and its related deity. Such pendants were worn at the neck, in contact with the body, as protective amulets.