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LOT 1492
Western Asiatic Terracotta Flask with Incised Decoration
1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 7/8 in. (38 grams, 73 mm).
With an almost square base, sloping walls and circular mouth; incised encircling lines on the neck and herringbone-pattern on the walls. [No Reserve]
Provenancewith Dorotheum Auction, Vienna, 13 December 2000, no.61.
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.
Cf. for a similar Cypriot perfume bottle of Roman age, The British Museum, accession no.1982,0729.19.
FootnotesVarious materials were used in Antiquity to manufacture containers for expensive perfume extracts. Clay was one of the most common materials before glass containers were invented. The clay containers were easy to make and blocked sunlight, protecting the perfume.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1492
Western Asiatic Terracotta Flask with Incised Decoration
Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
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Western Asiatic Terracotta Jar
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £176
Comprising a trumpet-shaped base, balustered stem, broad dish with rolled rim. 4.65 kg, 32 cm
From the collection of a London, UK, gentleman, 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. -
Western Asiatic Aramaic Lead Scroll with Magical Text
2nd-8th century A.D.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £167
A rectangular lead sheet rolled into a tight scroll with the text to the inner face. 31 grams, 58 mm
Collected from 1970-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK. 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 item was possibly meant to be what the Romans called a defixio or 'curse tablet', on which the magical malediction was recorded and then shut away (by being tightly rolled up) so that the victim could not find it or change it. -
Sumerian Terracotta Cuneiform Tablet
Akkadian, 22nd-21st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
Discoid with convex faces, the top with impressed cuneiform text. 37.5 grams, 50 mm
Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1988. Thence by descent to family members. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples. 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.
