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LOT 1381
Western Asiatic Stone Stamp Seal with Inscription
1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
1 1/8 in. (21.1 grams, 28 mm).
Pierced tapering handle to reverse, billeted border enclosing profile standing bull and legend in Indus Valley script.
ProvenanceFrom the London collection of the late Mr S.M., 1969-1999.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1381
Western Asiatic Stone Stamp Seal with Inscription
Estimate £300 - 400€350 - 460 (for guidance only)$410 - 540 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£162 (EUR 188; USD 219) +BP*
-
Neo-Assyrian Rock Crystal Cylinder Seal
Circa 700-600 B.C.Estimate: £120 - 170 (+bp*)
Bids: 2 | Current Bid: £10
Translucent seal with stylised winged figures; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 3.17 grams, 20 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. Accompanied by a previous typed catalogue slip with collection no.75. -
Western Asiatic Steatite Seal with Animals
3300-2900 B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (‡+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £375
Rectangular in plan and triangular in section with a median hole, flat face with incuse frieze of ibexes. 38.9 grams, 61 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Some stamp seals from the period of transition between Jemdat Nasr and the Early Dynastic Period of Ur represent animals, and some scholars suggest that they were probably used as pendants or amulets. The animals are somewhat simplified and often reduced to mere lines: a file of animals usually forms the basis of such a pattern. -
Large Neo-Assyrian Cuneiform Frieze Section with Annals for King Ashurnasirpal II
883-859 B.C.Estimate: £7,000 - 9,000 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £4,250
A stone frieze with four lines of large cuneiform text accompanied by documentation to support that this a section from the annals of King Ashurnasirpal II: 'Ashurnasirpal (II), great king, mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, son of Tukulti-Ninurta (II), great king, mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nirari (II), great king, mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, valiant man, who acts with the support of the weapons of Assur, his lord, who has no equal among the princes of the four regions, king who has subdued (the territories extending) from the opposite bank of the Tigris to Mount Lebanon and the Great Sea, the entire land of Laqû, the land of Suhu as far as the city of Rapiqu. He conquered the sources of the Subnat river as far as the land of Nirbu…'; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 2.85 kg total, 36.5 cm wide including stand
Belgian private collection, acquired before 1960, and thence by descent to the collector's widow. with Mrs Drees (?), Brussels, acquired from the widow of the above, 2004. with Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, 28 October 2006, lot 219. with Gorny & Mosch, Munich, 12 December 2023, lot 416. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13369-258955.
Most of the reliefs and inscriptions of this king are in the British Museum and Louvre. Further holdings are in the New York Historical Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University. They celebrated the glory of the Assyrians at the apogee of their Empire.
