3 Ancient Seals | Mesopotamian Archer Cylinder Seal, Roman Ring, Scythian

Near East, Mesopotamia; Roman, Imperial Period; Eurasian Steppe, Scythian culture. Three ancient seals, each answering the need for a personal mark in a different way. The first is a Mesopotamian greenstone cylinder seal, pierced lengthwise for suspension and engraved with an archer drawing his bow on a short-horned animal, a hunt scene that repeats endlessly when rolled across wet clay. The second is a Roman brass signet ring, its flattened bezel holding the remains of a glass or enamel intaglio in which a figural scene survives only faintly. The third is a Scythian seal of lead alloy, domed and stemmed, engraved with a stylized eagle’s head, accompanied by a modern impression that makes the bird easier to read. Seals like these authenticated goods, contracts and letters, and also served as amulets and marks of status. The cylinder seal is Mesopotamia's signature contribution to the technology of proof: a small stone drum that, rolled across damp clay, produced a continuous frieze no single stamp could match and no forger could easily reproduce. Hunting scenes, with archer and horned prey, belong to a long-lived repertoire in which mastery over wild animals stands in for mastery over the disorderly world beyond the city wall. Scythian metalwork returns again and again to the raptor. Eagle and griffin heads, reduced to a curved beak, a swollen cere, and a great rimmed eye, ornament horse tack, scabbards, and personal fittings from the Black Sea steppe to the Altai, a shorthand vocabulary of predatory power carried across an enormous territory by mounted nomads who left few settlements and a great deal of portable art. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 204921

Estimate:$225

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