Anatolian Bronze Age Stone Stamp Seal - Antelope

拍品描述

Asia Minor, Anatolia, Bronze Age, ca. 3000–1000 BCE. A domed black stone stamp seal, its flat circular base incised with a spare stick-figure antelope, horns swept back above a lean body and splayed legs. The dark, mottled stone is polished to a low sheen and pierced laterally with a drilled suspension hole, allowing the seal to be worn on a cord at the wrist or neck and thus kept always at hand. Stamp seals of this domed type served as instruments of identity across Bronze Age Anatolia, pressed into damp clay to close a jar, secure a storeroom door, or authenticate a bale of goods moving along the caravan roads. The antelope, rendered with an economy verging on abstraction, likely functioned as a personal or household device, perhaps also carrying an apotropaic charge for its owner. Size: 0.55" H x 0.59" Diam (1.4 cm H x 1.5 cm Diam). Anatolia developed a stamp-seal tradition distinct from the cylinder seals of Mesopotamia to its southeast. Where the cylinder rolled out continuous narrative friezes, the Anatolian stamp compressed meaning into a single small field, favoring animals, geometric stars, and cross-hatched patterns. The two systems met dramatically in the Assyrian merchant colonies at Kultepe (ancient Kanesh) in the early second millennium BCE, where local stamp seals and imported cylinders appear together on the same clay envelopes, a literal impression of two commercial cultures in contact. SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700. PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception. Item #204298

图片