Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Ancient World (4)

This large disk-shaped ritual object from central Asia - the Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex - is made of marble. Dated in the 3rd to 2nd millennium century BC, it has a smooth, curved-in side, and the concave surface of the face is well-polished. The abstract vein pattern in the marble offers colours of pink-purple, beige, and grey. The use of this kind of object is still uncertain. Some believe these are purely ritual objects...

These large beads with stratified eyes and trailed decoration are very rare. They were almost certainly made in one of the Hellenistic settlements around the Black Sea. They were traded to the Sarmatian and Scythian nomadic peoples who controlled vast inland territories, and who attached these beads as signs of status and wealth to personal clothing and to horse apparel...

This is a beautiful, authentic Roman period single pendant earring made with solid gold. It dates from the 1st-3rd century AD. The pendant part is decorated with a green glass bead, a finely-crafted filigree gold tubular bead, and a lovely little pearl that still has most of its lustre nearly two thousand years after it left the sea...

This glass bottle is in excellent condition. Come from Iran, it is probably designed to be used as a perfume sprinkler. It has a rounded body with a long, slim neck decorated with wound glass threads rising to the rim. The colour of the bottle is mostly amber; however, the lower body is more like a honey gold. A beautiful metallic iridescence can be seen under the sunlight...