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LOT 0990
Western Asiatic Terracotta House with Inhabitants
20TH CENTURY A.D.
10 5/8 in. (9.1 kg, 27 cm).
A terracotta diorama comprising a Middle Eastern conical hut or dwelling with arched frame around the D-shaped entrance; two figures placed beside the doorway: to the left a tall slender with luxuriant curls male wearing a textured shirt (mailcoat?) and ruched trousers, barefoot, resting his head on the frame; to the right a shorter bearded male waring a cloak and quilted tunic and trousers. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1970-1999.
Ex collection of deceased Mayfair gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Animal Seal and Weight Group
Late 1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £78
A group of two copper-alloy artefacts comprising: a discoid stamp seal with suspension lug to reverse, incuse winged and horned quadruped to base; and an 6th-9th century A.D. octagonal weight with pseudo(?) characters to both principal faces and each side facet. 26 grams total, 17-18 mm
Early 1990s London collection. Acquired on the UK art market. From a private collection, Lancashire, UK. -
Mesopotamian Pictographic Administrative Tablet
Uruk III, circa 3000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,940
A bifacial, lentoid-section rectangular clay tablet with rounded corners and short sides, medial horizontal line to each face, with hand-drawn pictographs above and below, a count of sheep and caprids. 42 grams, 66 mm wide
Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992. 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 checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11637-198551.
Early writing was used primarily as a means of recording economic data; this tablet likely records deliveries and distributions of grain. At the end of the 4th millennium B.C., written language developed in Mesopotamia as pictographs, later evolving into abstract forms called cuneiform. Pictographs were drawn in the clay with a pointed implement. Circular impressions alongside the pictographs represented numerical symbols. Cuneiform (meaning wedge-shaped) script was written by pressing a reed pen or stylus with a wedge-shaped tip into a clay tablet. -
Urartian Pin with Repousse Decorated Disc
7th-6th century B.C.Estimate: £700 - 900 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £350
A bronze dress pin comprising a round-section tapering shank with hipped bulb below the head; discoid head with raised border, repoussé design featuring a central facing mask with lentoid eyes and piriform face, hatched hair and beard; below, two rosettes above the backs of addorsed advancing goats with decorated and segmented bodies; plant motifs before the goats' chests and leaping lions above with gaping mouths flanking the mask of a master of animals with ibexes emerging from the cheeks; mounted on a stand; chipped. 88 grams, 43 cm long
Acquired 1970s-1990s. Ex Rabi Gallery, Mayfair, London, U.K. From a specialist collection of pottery.
