Western Asiatic Stone Libation Bowl

Graduated group of jadeite melon beads on a silk string. 383 grams, 72 cm



Acquired on the London, UK, art market, 1990-2000s. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Columnar in form with two beads and a cord forming handles; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Soft Black Stone, 19x10.5mm. The engraved area is divided into two registers by a notched band. In the upper, narrower register there is a row of nine human heads. Below is a row of various items: a mace; a sitting animal; a recumbent bull with a bird above its back; a wedge; a standing human with one hand raised; a recumbent horned quadruped with head turned back with combined sun and lunar crescent above it. This seal is Syro-Cappadocian, from c. 2000 B.C. For comparable seals cf. Briggs Buchanan, catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum, I, no. 849 and idem, early Near Eastern Seals in the Yale Babylonian Collection, no.1180.'; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 4.95 grams, 38 mm long



UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983. Accompanied by a copy of a typed and signed scholarly note by the late W.G. Lambert, Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, with reference no.1580. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Cylinder with fractured upper end; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: ' Cylinder Seal of Black Stone, 41.5 x 19.5 mm. This seal is cone-shaped -- narrower at the top than the bottom -- and is engraved both around the sides and on the bottom. The top is broken off, and this would have contained a hole for carrying on a string. Around the sides a row of four walking men is depicted. They are shown in schematized shape, especially the heads which are round blobs with a point at one side for the nose. Three hold rods in their raised hand, the fourth grips a branch with the aid of the figure walking in front of him. All four have three horizontal cuts across their bodies from waist to thighs, and in three cases something flows out behind ending in a curve at the end, perhaps intended as part of their dress, a ribbon for example. This frieze is contained within lines above and below. On the base appears a standing quadruped with a small head and long curving tail. This is an extremely rare type of cylinder-stamp seal, Levantine in origin, and dating from c. 1300-1000 B.C. It is larger than most cylinder seals. The closest parallel is in the collection of the Dukes of Northumberland, now in the Museum of Oriental Art, University of Durham, published in Iraq 41 (1979) p.33f. and pl.xii, no.110.'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. 26.58 grams, 42 mm



UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in August 1991. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.