Central Asian Antiquities

A wonderful very rare Central Asian necklace of multi faceted silver and gold gilt beads with small turquoise pieces in each faceted section, beautiful antique beads dating from 17/1...

A stunning hand-carved marble Bactrian Disc idol with linear grooves on both sides, mounted on a custom steel mount. Bactrian idols originate from North-...

This fragment forms part of the famed Ziwiye hoard of treasure, reputably found in 1947 in modern day Kurdistan. As the contents of a royal tomb of a great ancient king, the pieces were quickly dispersed and only in the following years did the huge significance become understood in scholarship. These objects have become famous as the keystone in explaining underpinning socio-economic and political cultural ties across the silk route, reflected by these works of art. These objects exhibit styles and motifs associated with the four pre-eminent cultures at this juncture in history: Assyrian, Scythian, proto-Achaemenid and the provincial native pieces. The Scythians, a seminomadic people from the Eurasian steppes who moved out from Southern Russia into the territory between the Don and the Danube and then into Mesopotamia are responsible for the basis of an ‘animal style’ design found on the elaborate metalwork and jewellery produced in Central Asian ancient world. This style starts to appear in the 7th century B.C typically on pierced plaques made of gold and silver, which depict running or fighting animals (reindeer, lions, tigers, horses) alone or in pairs facing each other, embossed with powerful plasticity and free interpretation of the forms. The animal- style had a strong influence in western Asia during the 7th century B.C. Such ornaments as necklaces, bracelets, pectorals, diadems, and earrings making up the Ziwiye treasure (discovered in Iran near the border between Kurdistan and Azerbaijan) provide evidence of this Asiatic phase of Scythian gold...

The nomadic nature of the Eurasian steppe tribes allowed for much integration and exchange of styles and customs, as well as physical transportable objects; including personal ornamentation and weaponry. Particularly between the Scythian tribes of the Black sea region in the West, Central Asian tribes such as the Hephthalites, the Wushu, Yuezhi and Mongolians to the East and the Persians further South. The blade of this piece has strong ties to daggers of the late Chinese Shang...

The Amlash culture is known almost exclusively through the archaeological record that has come to light in recent decades. The term refers to the material culture found in the modern...

Resting on a wide, trumpeted foot, this wonderful candlestick rises from a band of chased keyfret motif to a body of open pierced fretwork, which consists of thuluth calligraphy agai...

A polychrome Minai (enamel) handled cup from the latter half of the Turco-Persian Seljuq period (1040 - 1307), most probably from Kashan, a significant centre of ceramics production during this time where potters moulded, fired and painted both Minai and lusterware works. This handled cup rises from a short foot and widens to a spherical body, which tapers towards its neck at its widest point, emphasizing its curvature, and flares slightly at its rim. The artist has painted figures upon horseback, rendered in vibrant colours and outlined in black and gold, on the central frieze that encircles the body. Above the figures runs a blue band of Arabic calligraphy, written in Kufic script, while on the same spot in the interior of the cup there is a band of orange calligraphy, executed again in the Kufic style. The handle is S-shaped with a delicate, pale green scrolling pattern, which couples to underscore its function as a drinking utensil, along with its opulence; a luxurious example of the material culture of pre-Mongol Iran. Minai means enamel in Persian, and the term refers to this type of pottery’s colourful decoration, which lies both in and over the glaze, here further enriched with gold (gilding) which is visible on the horse’s reigns and the bows on their tails. Only certain colours are fixed as over glazed enamels. Some, such as turquoise, blue and purple are normally painted into the opaque white glaze after it has been applied and are fixed with it in the firing. Enamel pigments are then painted, and fixed in the second firing. These are normally restricted to red and black, but in more ambitious pieces, such as in this case, a whole range of other enamel colours are found together with gold gilding. Such Minai works had to be fired twice in order to achieve their polychromatic harmonies and were consequently the most sought-after and costly wares; we can thereby infer that the patron or owner was likely to have been a member of the Seljuq elite. The Seljuqs descended from nomads (specifically the Turkic Oghuz clan) who grazed cattle on the Central Asian land that the previous Persian dynasty...

It has long been conjectured, though there is no proof, that at the end of the twelfth century a group of Egyptian potters fled the rapidly declining Fatimid caliphate and settled in...

Taken from a larger gypsum wall carving, this triangular fragment displays the hilt and scabbard of a dagger or ‘akinakes’. Decorated with a pair of outward facing rampant lions, eac...

A mid to late 19th century Afghan armchair and stool, back panel ornamented with chip carving of tribal designs. Fashioned of Himalayan cedar and goat-hide and pegged together withou...