Carnelian, 2.51 grams, 19.64 mm tall. Finely carved depiction of a male head with finely shown features, hair, beard and cap. The reverse blank. Pierced laterally through the cap for suspension. Reference: see New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. Extremely fine, rare thus. Provenance: property of a gentleman.

Carnelian, 13.03 grams, 40 cm, 16 inches. Indus Valley Culture; Bronze Age, circa 2600 - 1600 BC. A re-strung carnelian necklace, which has 57 various shaped ancient carnelian beads, etched with geometric designs. The technique of painting the surface of a finished carnelian bead with natron [calcium carbonate] and then baking the mineral on appears to have been invented around 2500 BC by Indus Valley craftesman, possibly to imitate banded agates. This technique was also adopted by the Mesopotamians and later by the Persians. Etched beads may well have been traded from the Indus Valley to Sumer as early as 2500 BC. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, page 181-2; No. 600, a-c. Extremely fine condition and wearable. Provenance: from an old English collection; found Indus Valley, Pakistan.

Banded agate and carnelian, 40.98 grams, 50 cm [20 inches]. Circa 1st millenium BC. A re-strung banded Agate and carnelian necklace, which has 11 eliptical-shaped ancient agate beads, separated with with barrel-shaped beads made from carnelian. The carnelian beads are of different shades of orange and red with different degrees of transparency. Some of the beads are drilled from both ends and they have conical opening, fitted with a modern clasp to allow it to be worn. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present; Limper K. Uruk. Perlen. Ketten. Anhänger. Ph. Von Zabern, 1989, tbl. Page 53. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection

Bronze, 32.42 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 41.76 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 29.53 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 30.43 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 31.96 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 38.21 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 28.00 grams, 40 cm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

White Alabaster, 4.30 grams, 28.19 mm. Circa 3,200 BC. An extremely good example of a so-called 'eye Idol' of Mesopotamia from the city of Tell Brak, Syria. Carved with a rounded rectangular body with tapering shoulders and a neck on which rests two 'Watching' and 'Guarding' Eyes with eye brows. Today the remains of Tell Brak covers a massive forty-hectare area. It was first excavated by Max Mallowan in 1937-8 when he found the remains of early religious practices represented by hundreds of votive objects, including the so-called 'eye idols'. Tell Brak must be considered as one of the oldest cultural sites in the world it was still in use during the Mitannian empire [1,500 - 1,360 BC]. During the Hellenistic and Roman eras, the site lay silent. Tell Brak was known as Nagar in Antiquity. Reference: Authenticated by Professor Lambert of Birmingham University [Specialisms - Oriental studies: Assyrian. Appointments: Associate Professor and Chair of Oriental Seminary, Johns Hopkins University 1959-64; Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham 1970-93. Principal publications: Babylonian wisdom literature 1960, joint author Atra-hasis; The Babylonian story of the flood, 1969; The qualifications of Babylonian diviners, Festschrift für Rykle Borger 1998. Elected to the Fellowship 1971]. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, collected from the Tell Brak Region in the 1930's. [Accompanied by a hand written scholorly note by Professor Lambert]

Bronze, 34.93 grams, 37.50 mm long [15 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 29.24 grams, 37.50 mm long [15 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Bronze, 29.63 grams, 40 mm long [16 inches]. Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian, circa 550 - 330 BCE. These beads were made by the Persians, people of the Pre-Achaemenid-Parthian period, the successor state of the Median Empire. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, and spanned three continents, including territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. In western history this empire was the foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and was invaded and conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This necklace has been restrung and fitted with a modern clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly square and cylindrical-shaped beads with a great variety of colour patination. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 309 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Black Alabaster, 9.46 grams, 50.32 mm. Circa 3,200 BC. An extremely good example of a so-called 'eye Idol' of Mesopotamia from the city of Tell Brak, Syria. Carved with a rounded rectangular body with tapering shoulders and a neck on which rests two 'Watching' and 'Guarding' Eyes with eye brows. Today the remains of Tell Brak covers a massive forty-hectare area. It was first excavated by Max Mallowan in 1937-8 when he found the remains of early religious practices represented by hundreds of votive objects, including the so-called 'eye idols'. Tell Brak must be considered as one of the oldest cultural sites in the world it was still in use during the Mitannian empire [1,500 - 1,360 BC]. During the Hellenistic and Roman eras, the site lay silent. Tell Brak was known as Nagar in Antiquity. Reference: Authenticated by Professor Lambert of Birmingham University [Specialisms - Oriental studies: Assyrian. Appointments: Associate Professor and Chair of Oriental Seminary, Johns Hopkins University 1959-64; Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham 1970-93. Principal publications: Babylonian wisdom literature 1960, joint author Atra-hasis; The Babylonian story of the flood, 1969; The qualifications of Babylonian diviners, Festschrift für Rykle Borger 1998. Elected to the Fellowship 1971]. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, collected from the Tell Brak Region in the 1930's. [Accompanied by a hand written scholorly note by Professor Lambert]

Carnelian, 16.26 grams, 43 cm, 17 inches. Indus Valley Culture; Bronze Age, circa 2600 - 1600 BC. A re-strung carnelian necklace, which has 56 ovoid shaped ancient carnelian beads, etched with geometric designs. The technique of painting the surface of a finished carnelian bead with natron [calcium carbonate] and then baking the mineral on appears to have been invented around 2500 BC by Indus Valley craftesman, possibly to imitate banded agates. This technique was also adopted by the Mesopotamians and later by the Persians. Etched beads may well have been traded from the Indus Valley to Sumer as early as 2500 BC. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, page 181-2; No. 600, a-c. Extremely fine condition and wearable. Provenance: from an old English collection; found Indus Valley, Pakistan.

Copper-alloy, 22.51 grams, 165 mm. Circa 1,000 BC. The long shaft tapering to a fine point. The plain head with traces of an engraved ring below. Reference: Moorey, P. R. S. Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ahsmolean Museum. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 14.58 grams, 35.01 mm. 4th century BC to 3rd century AD. A beautifully modelled openwork mount in the form of two opposed beasts, touching at the muzzle, lower jaw, forepaw, hindleg and haunch. The beasts are exceuted in the characteristic Scythian style with tightly curled snouts, legs and tails. On the reverse is the loop used to secure leather or fabric straps, possibly part of a horse-harness; the Scythians were renowned horsemen and dominated eastern Europe and southern Asia for many centuries. Scythian art influenced the culture of classical Greece, which in turn inspired later Roman art. Reference: for Scythian art see Vickers, M. Scythian and Thracian Antiquities in Oxford (Ashmolean Handbooks), Oxford, 2003 and Braund, D. Scythians and Amazons, London, 2009. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 42.48 grams, 57.24 mm. Circa 4th century BC. Scythian art is one of the first and most important animal-based art styles of the Old World. It influenced the later art of central, western and northern Europe in ways which are still poorly understood. One of the central motifs of this art was of a horse with its neck and back arched so that its tail was close to its mouth, as if falling over while galloping. Evolved forms include the horse's head, which is in evidence here. The mount/pendant features a horse-head with extended tongue, looping on a long carinated neck with lobed extensions from a bulb with lateral lobes; the bulb surmounts a sub-circular ring with a circular mount on the reverse and develops into a lozengiform facetted lobe with spherical terminal. The latter fitting has a phallic quality. There are traces of red pigmentation on the surface. Reference: Braund, D. Scythians and Greeks: Cultural Interaction in Scythia, Athens and the Early Roman Empire - Sixth Century BC to First Century AD, Exeter, 2005. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 18.79 grams, 170 mm. Circa 1,000 BC. The long shaft tapering to a fine point. The conical head flaring out from a series of engraved concentric rings. Reference: Moorey, P. R. S. Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ahsmolean Museum. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Terracotta, 450 grams, 155.87 mm. Circa 2000 B.C. Figurine from Bronze Age Afghanistan. Hollow figurine with a bird like head, pinched beak, applied eyes and thin elongated ears. She wears a pierced choker and has both hands together on chest, as if praying. This piece, which was manufactured from a single piece of long thin pottery coiled to form the hollow body, was probably mounted on a ceremonial staff or an alter where rituals would have been undertaken for fertility of both land and body. Extremely Fine 'as found' condition.