Western Asiatic Stone Macehead

An extensive Arabic text, bound in cardboard covers, some pages with decorative borders; pages stained. 3.8 kg, 30.5 x 22.5 cm



From the family collection of a Hampstead gentleman; formerly acquired in the 1980s. 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.

A matching pair of penannular armbands, each with a round-section body and dragon-head terminals, one terminal on each band separately made; the dragons with ring-and-dot eyes and linear decoration, slit mouths and flaring nostrils. 1.19 kg total, 13-13.1 cm



Ex London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s. Private collection, London.

Bronze armbands of this scale and quality are characteristic of Luristan, an important centre of metal production in western Iran during the early 1st millennium B.C. The region is renowned for its distinctive cast bronzes, including weapons, horse trappings, and items of personal adornment, often decorated with powerful animal imagery. The dragon, with its elongated body and open jaws, was a common motif in Luristan art, symbolising strength, protection, and the supernatural. Armbands with dragon-head terminals likely carried an apotropaic function, serving both as impressive ornaments and as protective charms for the wearer. Monumental examples such as this pair are rare survivals, attesting to the high status of their original owner and the extraordinary skill of Luristan bronze workers.

Bifacial amulet with chevron borders and worshippers, 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: 'Amulet of Green Serpentine, 31mm. high. There is a band of chevrons at both top and bottom of this amulet, going in opposite directions. Between them on the one side is a standing worshipper holding up a cup in one hand and a bow in the other, in front of him an altar. On the other side is a sacred tree under a winged solar disc, and to the other side of the tree is a minute worshipper with hands extended. [...] from any part of the [...].' 11.9 grams, 31 mm



with Bonhams, Fine Antiquities, 20th May, 1992, no.76. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in 1990.