A Bactrian Stone Ritual Object

Circa 3rd-2nd Millennium B.C.

Height 10 1/2 inches (26.5 cm).

Property from a California Private Collection

The following lots (Lots 11-14) look astonishingly contemporary to the modern eye. Yet, their geometric and abstract forms were crafted nearly five thousand years ago. Using only lithic tools, each object was painstakingly fashioned by meticulous drilling, abrasion, and polish.

Provenance:

Pars Antiques, United Kingdom, in the 1990s.

Private Collection, London.

Timeline Auctions, London, Antiquities and Coins, 24 February 2017, Lot 2666.

Intact as preserved. No obvious restoration. Very minor chips and weathering at the base and top. The surface is not smooth but rough, with evidence of aging and encrustation throughout.

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Mr. Coley joined the Antiquities department in 2021 after working as Managing Director in the Ancient Art department at Colnaghi, the world’s oldest commercial art gallery, where he helped to establish the Ancient Art department and launched Colnaghi New York in 2017. Prior to Colnaghi, Mr. Coley was in the Greek and Roman Art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Coley holds a B.A. from the University of Miami and an M.A. in Art Market from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and he earned an art-appraisal certificate from New York University.

Antiquities & Ethnographic Art

A Bactrian Stone Ritual Object

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