Western Asiatic Stone Stamp Seal with Inscription

Plano-convex in section with transverse piercing; incuse image on the underside of a charging dromedary camel inside a circular Sasanian inscription; supplied with a museum-quality impression; very rare type. 8.9 grams, 20 mm



From a privately held London, UK, collection from the 1990s.

Triangular in plan and plano-convex in section with drilled upper face, geometric design to underside. 19 grams, 37 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

A late Kushan or Hephthalites Dynasty discoid pendant with a female deity, possibly Nana, at the centre holding a lotus flower in her right hand, hair elaborately dressed and wearing large earrings, necklace and bracelets; enclosed by a border of stylised bull heads and a double-plaited border, the outer edge with raised bosses; later applied polygonal suspension loop with granulated collars and an oval garnet cabochon. 22.11 grams, 71 mm



Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13021-246776.

Nana (Kushan Greek: Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο, Sogdian Nni) was a Bactrian female deity, a variation of the pan-Asian Nana, a fusion of the Sumero-Babylonian Inanna-Ishtar with a local deity, in her Kushan form with the local (Zoroastrian) Harakhvati Aredvi Sura Anahita. Such syncretism was common among Kušan deities. She was an important patron deity in the Kushan Empire and the most important deity worshipped by Emperor Kaniška (c. 127-150 A.D.).