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LOT 1310
Western Asiatic Stone Seal with Engraved Design
3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
1 3/8 in. (19 grams, 37 mm).
Triangular in plan and plano-convex in section with drilled upper face, geometric design to underside.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1310
Western Asiatic Stone Seal with Engraved Design
Estimate £150 - 200€170 - 230 (for guidance only)$200 - 270 (for guidance only)
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Sasanian Bronze Bowl
3rd-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Hemispherical in profile with slightly flared rim. 222 grams, 17.1 cm
From the collection of North West London, UK, gentleman, 1990-2000s. -
Western Asiatic Pottery Raised Tripod Dish
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Shallow discoid bowl with three slender slanting legs, loop handle below rim. 635 grams, 19.5 cm wide
From the collection of a gentleman, 1988-2000s. -
Achaemenid Silver Phiale with Central Rosette
5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,705
Squat lotiform bowl with wide everted rim, central domed mesomphalos with rosette detailing, some restoration to the rim; with custom-made box. 240 grams, 13.7 cm wide
Ex London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13067-248447.
This bowl is possibly part of a set of nearly identical vessels, probably used at the table of a high-status household, potentially that of a satrap. Persian governors (satrapes) used banquets to display their wealth and power by imitating royal banquets. It was a great honour for them to receive a drinking vessel such as this as a gift from the King of the Kings, thereby establishing their status as royal dinner guests. No doubt it took practice to drink adeptly from a vessel like this, yet the omphalos in the base would have made it easier to hold with one hand, with the middle finger hooked inside the indentation and the thumb stretched out to grip the vessel at or near the rim.