< Previous4A LION BOWL WITH HANDLE L. 12.5 cm. Black steatite. Near Eastern, ca. 9th‒8th cent. B.C. CHF 6,800 Bowl with profiled rim held in the paws of a lion. The body of the feline continues into the partly preserved tube, which may have been attached to a vessel. The oil or other liquid con- tained in this vessel would have been able to flow through a narrow channel in the protome and out of the lion’s mouth into the bowl. The deep eye sockets with central drill hole were originally inlaid; details incised; exterior of bowl polished. Traces of abrasion in the interior of the bowl. Groove in the right foreleg, part of the tube’s rim lost. The bowl was probably used in religious rituals. From the estate of the Swiss art dealer and collector Elsa Bloch-Diener (1922–2012), Bern, acquired between 1972 and 1985. For a lion closely related in style and posture, and with a similar mane composed of cross-hatched dia- monds, cf. a bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 61.98 (online). In terms of posture and stylistic design it is related to a richly ornamented bowl in the British Museum, London, inv. no. 1956.0211.1 (online).5A MACE HEAD WITH BULLS H. 6.3 cm. White stone with reddish veining and black inclusions. Near Eastern, Sumerian, Jemdet Nasr Period, 3100–2900 B.C. CHF 86,000 The almost cylindrical mace head is domed at the top and tapers towards the base. It is adorned by three bulls in high relief that stride to right whilst turning their heads frontally. Their deeply drilled eyes were probably originally inlaid with a different material. The sculp- tor denoted the anatomical details and powerful musculature by incision and drilling. Above and below the figural scene, the surface of the weapon is offset and smoothed. Large vertical perforation for the handle. One bull’s mouth and one horn slightly worn. Minor chips to upper edge. Otherwise intact. Some traces of corrosion. Formerly priv. coll. Guy Weill-Goudchaux, Germany, acquired between 1970 and 1995. Thence by descent in the family. A mace head from the Jemdet Nasr period in relief is related in form: Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. no. AO 2349 (online). The bulls on a bowl from the Coll. Elie Borowski are related in style, cf. O. White Muscarella (ed.), Ladders to Heaven. Art Treasures from the Lands of the Bible, cat. Toronto (Toronto 1981) 58 f., no. 9 with illus. For stylistic parallels with figural handles and distinctively drilled eyes on stamp seals of the period, cf. White Muscarella, 60, no. 11 with illus.6A LION BOWL WITH HANDLE L. 12.5 cm. Brown steatite. Near Eastern, ca. 9th–8th cent. B.C. CHF 6,000 Round, shallow bowl with profiled rim held in the paws of a lion. The body of the feline continues into the partly preserved tube, which may have been attached to a vessel. The oil or other liquid contained in this vessel would have been able to flow through a narrow channel in the protome and out of the lion’s mouth into the bowl. The deep eye sockets were originally inlaid; details incised. The underside of the bowl is decorated with bands with en- graved lines arranged to form a cross. Traces of abrasion in the interior of the bowl. A small fragment of the rim reattached. The bowl was probably used in religious rituals. From the estate of the Swiss art dealer and collector Elsa Bloch-Diener (1922–2012), Bern, acquired between 1972 and 1985. For a lion closely related in style and posture, and with a similar mane composed of cross-hatched dia- monds, cf. a bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 61.98 (online). In terms of posture and stylistic design it is related to a richly ornamented bowl in the British Museum, London, inv. no. 1956.0211.1 (online).7A BEAR’S HEAD AMULET D. 2.3 cm. Quartz. Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, 11th–12th Dynasty, 2000–1800 B.C. CHF 1,200 The bear’s slightly protruding eyes look straight ahead. Blunt, round muzzle with a groove for the mouth. The bar behind the forehead ends in small, pointed ears and is offset from the round back of the head by a groove. A transverse drilled hole makes it possible to wear the piece as an amulet. Intact. Formerly Pierre Bergé & Associés, 28.4.2007, lot 532. Cf. an amulet in the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels (inv. no. E1849).8A RELIEF FRAGMENT WITH A VULTURE’S HEAD W. 4 cm. Limestone. Egyptian, Late Period, 26th Dynasty, 7th–6th cent. B.C. CHF 6,000 Small, finely sculpted fragment with the head of a vulture in relief, probably from one of the large necropoleis in El-Assasif, Thebes, which were built by administrative officials of the highest rank during the Late Period. For the decoration of their tombs, they referred back to the past periods of Egypt’s greatness and the reliefs were often executed in a deliberately archaic style. Formerly Coll. Francisca Zijlstra, Beek, The Netherlands. Cf. I Gamer-Wallert, Vermerk: Fundort unbekannt. Ägyptologische Entdeckungen bei Privatsamm- lern in und um Stuttgart (Tübingen 1997), 101–131.Next >