Friday 9 September 2011

Sir Mortimer's Cunies

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An item in Bonham's New Bond Street Sale 18947 - Antiquities, 5 Oct 2011 caught my eye:
Lot No: 152, A Mesopotamian terracotta cuneiform tablet, Sumerian, Third Dynasty of Ur, circa 2080-2000 B.C.[...] Provenance: Given to Lady Mavis Wheeler as a gift by Sir Mortimer Wheeler after their marriage in 1939. Thence by descent.
My initial interest was the connection with my boyhood hero (who I actually met when he came to give a talk in my town and my school history teacher took me along). The more I thought about the beguiling and colourful Mavis however it seems to me an object with really quite special associations. What a pity I don't collect antiquities!

So, where did Sir Mortimer get it from?
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2 comments:

  1. kyri9 September 2011 at 11:30

    take the plunge paul,buy your first piece.afterall it has great provenance.you will see how rewarding collecting antiquities[ethicaly of course]can be.
    kyri.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul Barford9 September 2011 at 13:42

    http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-sir-mortimer-artefact.html

    ReplyDelete