Created during the time just prior to the biblical patriarchs, this simple but charming vessel glows with the rich patina of history. Who can say through whose hands it might  More »

Created during the time just prior to the biblical patriarchs, this simple but charming vessel glows with the rich patina of history. Who can say through whose hands it might have passed centuries ago? It may have held oil used for anointing people in religious ceremonies, and it was perhaps from a jug similar to this that Abraham anointed Isaac in the moment before the angel appeared. Or perhaps it held perfume, purchased as a gift by a loving husband for his wife. Such a vessel would have been a necessity in the ancient world to contain and transport precious oils and unguents for ritual or daily usage. Although its original contents have long disappeared, the energy of those vanished lives is still contained within this vessel. This jug was once a vital, indispensable part of everyday life in the ancient world. Today, it is even more valuable to our modern lives, not as a container, but as a symbol of the past. This jug holds history inside, it reminds us of the lives, the joys and struggles, the triumphs and defeats, of those who came before us. Whose hands might have held it so long ago we can only guess, yet the connection is a direct one between our age and theirs. - (SP.356)   « Less

In Israel, as in other ancient nations, it was customary to dedicate persons or objects to sacred use by anointing them with oil. Thus Samuel anointed Saul king, as Moses had  More »

In Israel, as in other ancient nations, it was customary to dedicate persons or objects to sacred use by anointing them with oil. Thus Samuel anointed Saul king, as Moses had hallowed the tabernacle and Aaron the high priest before, and Abraham had sanctified Isaac. This simple yet charming vessel exudes an energy of the ages, glowing from within its surface, richly patinated by the fingerprints of history. Such a vessel would have been a necessity in the ancient world to contain and transport precious oils and unguents for ritual or daily usage. Although its original contents have long disappeared, the energy of those vanished lives is still contained within this vessel. This jug was once a vital, indispensable part of everyday life in the ancient world. Today, it is even more valuable to our modern lives, not as a container, but as a symbol of the past. This jug holds history inside, it reminds us of the lives, the joys and struggles, the triumphs and defeats, of those who came before us. Whose hands might have held it so long ago we can only guess, yet the connection is a direct one between our age and theirs. - (SP.359)   « Less

In the millennium before the patriarch Abraham, this elegant vessel might have held an offering of food or drink. It was perhaps left as a votive offering to win the favor of  More »

In the millennium before the patriarch Abraham, this elegant vessel might have held an offering of food or drink. It was perhaps left as a votive offering to win the favor of a powerful deity. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, we cross the bridge of time and set the imagination on a journey of discovery. - (SP.370)   « Less

Nearly rectangular in form, this plaque features a mythological figure in relief in the form of a bearded man with bulls horns and ears, his head rendered frontally, wearing  More »

Nearly rectangular in form, this plaque features a mythological figure in relief in the form of a bearded man with bulls horns and ears, his head rendered frontally, wearing Persian trousers and cloak, with a cylindrial object in his left hand, a crescent moon and incised star above. The plaque perhaps served as a matrix for the fabrication of sheet-metalfigures.Provenance:Royal-Athena Galleries,New York,1988-(LA.555Achaemenid Bronze Plaque - LA.555Origin: Persia Circa: 500 BCto400BCimensions:3.875" (9.8cm) high Collection: Near Eastern Antiquities Style:Achaemenid   « Less

This striking anthropomorphic vessel was made in the early days of the 1st millennium AD by a potter of the Kushan Empire. It is essentially a globular flask, with a rounded  More »

This striking anthropomorphic vessel was made in the early days of the 1st millennium AD by a potter of the Kushan Empire. It is essentially a globular flask, with a rounded body, a tapering central neck and a loop handle posteriorly. The flask is painted reddish-orange, and is decorated with a dark horizontal panel of geometrically reductivist faces in profile, demarcated by a line of waves inferiorly and a band of foliate design above. The neck of the vessel is similarly decorated, giving way to the jawline of the head which forms the very top of the pouring spout. The face is comparatively long, with oversized, rimmed, almond-shaped eyes, an angular nose and a nugatory mouth. It has a single lock of dark hair running from each ear and curling anteriorly. The handle – which is decorated in a similar manner–iscomparatively low,andreachesthenapeofthehead’sneck Black Painted Earthenware Jarwith Anthropomorphic Spout - LO.664 (LSO)Origin: Central Asia Circa: 200 AD to 400ADDimensions: 8.50" (21.6cm) high Collection: Near Eastern Art Style: Kushan Medium: Terracotta   « Less

The figurine, depicting a truncated torso, the face with accentuated eyecontours,small lips and nose, the front outlined by a decorative band, holding the hair back.  More »

The figurine, depicting a truncated torso, the face with accentuated eyecontours,small lips and nose, the front outlined by a decorative band, holding the hair back. -LO.667) Alabaster Anthropomorphic Figurine - LO.667Origin: Central Asia Circa:3000BCto2000 BCDimensions: 6.75" (17.1cm) high x 3.50" (8.9cm) wide Collection: Nearastern Style: Elamite   « Less

Spouted Jug - PF.7009Origin: Central Asia Circa: 1600 BC to 600 BCDimensions: 5" (12.7cm) high Collection: Near Eastern Medium: Terracotta

Spouted Jug - PF.7009Origin: Central Asia Circa: 1600 BC to 600 BCDimensions: 5" (12.7cm) high Collection: Near Eastern Medium: Terracotta   « Less

This beautifully decorated bowl was made by a master potter of the Kushan Empire. It is comparatively shallow, and was probably used for the serving of food. The piece has a  More »

This beautifully decorated bowl was made by a master potter of the Kushan Empire. It is comparatively shallow, and was probably used for the serving of food. The piece has a light brownish ground, and is decorated with exuberant dark brown scrollwork that extends up the sides of the vessel from the central cavetto, terminating at the rim. The centre of the dish is taken up with what appears at first sight to b ea horse, but is in fact some form of deer with extravagantly curling antlers. The presence of what appears to be a bridle bit on the muzzle is thus puzzling. It is depicted running at full speed, looking over its right shoulder as it runs, its tongue protruding with exhaustion. Its flanks are decorated with geometrical motifs, and a large circular decoration on the rump Monochrome Terracotta Bowl - LO.844 (LSO)Origin: Central Asia Circa: 200AD to300ADDimensions:2.50"(6.4cm)highx7.30"(18.5cm)wide Collection:Near Eastern Style: Kushan Medium: Buff Earthenware   « Less

Terracotta figurines such as these ones have been unearthed at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, suggesting a commonality of style and purpose throughout the Indus Valley during the  More »

Terracotta figurines such as these ones have been unearthed at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, suggesting a commonality of style and purpose throughout the Indus Valley during the mature Harappan period (ca. 2600-2450 BCE). Like many figurines datable to this period, the front and back legs are joined together. In one excavated example from Chanu-daro a hole was poked in the belly, indicating that it would have been attached to a stick for use as a puppet or a small standard of the kind carried in the processions depicted on some seals. In others a hole is visible on the back rather than the belly, thus suggesting a different use, perhaps as musical instruments of some sort.Terracotta figurines such as these ones have been unearthed at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, suggesting a commonality of style and purpose throughout the Indus Valley during the mature Harappan period (ca. 2600-2450 BCE). Like many figurines datable to this period, the front and back legs are joined together. In one excavated example from Chanu-daro a hole was poked in the belly, indicating that it would have been attached to a stick for use as a puppet or a small standard of the kind carried in the processions depicted on some seals. In others a hole is visible on the back rather than the belly, thus suggesting a different use, perhaps as musical instruments of some sort.   « Less

Pottery Figurine of a Recumbent Lion - LO.874Origin: Mesopotamia Circa: 900 BC to 700 BCDimensions: 5.9" (15.0cm) high x 9.50" (24.1cm) wide Collection:Near Eastern Art  More »

Pottery Figurine of a Recumbent Lion - LO.874Origin: Mesopotamia Circa: 900 BC to 700 BCDimensions: 5.9" (15.0cm) high x 9.50" (24.1cm) wide Collection:Near Eastern Art Style: Assyrian Medium: Earthenware   « Less