Western Asiatic Stone Seal with Engraved Design

Modelled in the round crouching female figure with hands supporting the breasts, knees drawn up, pinched facial features and applied-band headdress; pigment detailing to shoulders and thighs; restored. 71 grams, 86 mm



Acquired in York, Yorkshire, UK. Ex P. Watson collection, UK, 1990s. 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.

In the 7th millennium BC, cultures in the Near East began creating organised settlements with developed religious and funerary practices. The Halaf culture of Anatolia and northern Syria produced a variety of figures representing females and associated with fertility. It is not known whether figures such as this were intended to represent real, ideal, or divine women. However, scholars believe that their primary purpose was to encourage female fertility.

Columnar in form with flared dimple base, arms placed on the chest, applied collar and hair. 66 grams, 12.4 cm



Acquired on the German art market, 1989-1995. with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1, UK, 1998-2003. Property of a London based academic, 2003-present. 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.

Finely engraved with a religious scene, sun god Shamash seated on a throne with his feet resting on a padded stand, holding a scimitar in his raised left hand and wearing a horned headdress; four bearded deities and a smaller, clean-shaven young male worshipper before him, each of the deities wearing a horned headdress and a pleated garment; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 49.1 grams, 40 mm



From the 'S' collection, acquired 1970-1990s. The collection was seen and studied by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993. Accompanied by a copy of a report from Assyriologist Hui Li. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12539-231427. 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.

The seal's excellent glyptic techniques, naturalistic depictions of the facial features, and the presented religious scene suggest that this seal might have belonged to a high official.