AN ASSYRIAN GYPSUM RELIEF - REIGN OF SENNACHERIB, 704-681 B.C.

From the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, finely carved in shallow raised relief, with two bearded soldiers in profile to the left, the lead soldier wearing the distinctive Assyrian pointed helmet with hinged ear flaps, the curls of his long hair and beard indicated by crossed lines, his scale armor preserved on his upper chest and shoulder, the face with a heavy brow, thickly-lidded eyes and large, protruding nose, the soldier behind lightly-armed, the musculature of his left forearm defined, his left hand holding a knobbed implement, possibly a mace or slingshot, a sheathed dagger at his side, his right hand positioned as if reaching across his body for the hilt of the dagger, his lips and nose preserved, the hair of his square beard with crossed lines. 19 in. (48.3 cm.) long. Estimate: $150,000 - $250,000

THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Provenance: Said to be acquired by the original owners prior to 1860.
with Spink and Son, London, 1985.
New York Private Collection.
The Property of a Gentleman; Sotheby's, London, 3 December 1991, lot 45.
with Frederick Schultz Ancient Art, New York, 1994 (Mesopotamia, In the First Days, no. 28).
Anonymous Sale; Sotheby's, New York,14 June 2000, lot 120.

Literature: R. Barnett, E. Bleibtreu and G. Turner, Sculptures from the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, London, 1998, Vol. 1, p. 141, no. 741, Vol. 2, p. 513.

Lot Notes: After moving the capital to Nineveh, Sennacherib built a palace at the southwest corner of the citadel, which he named "The Palace Without a Rival." It contained more than seventy rooms and many of the walls of the public areas were decorated in relief with scenes of warfare, serving as a visual reminder of the king's power to visiting foreigners. For a fragmentary relief from Room 1, with an episode from a siege depicting similar armored soldiers wearing pointed helmets, see no. 16 in Curtis and Reade, eds., Art and Empire, Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum.

Christie's. ANTIQUITIES.  4 June 2008