Cunie in UK auction

 

Cunie in UK auction marketed online:

"lot 183. Uruk III [...] 26.3 grams, 55 mm [...]. From an important collection of a London gentleman, 1980-2000s" "Believed to have been published in Cornell (ATCPC), no.140"

 It has got just one photo!  Why only one photo? How many sides are inscribed? The fabric looked a bit off, but when you check there are a lot of Uruk III tablets, apparently excavated ones, of this soapy/waxy clay and an equal (?) number of the more usual silty clay and some with a bit coarser sand temper. 

Where was this object before "1980"? Uruk [Warka] is in modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq, and Iraq has had antiquities laws for how long, eh? Maybe the (anonymous) seller can tell us - or maybe the UK auction house handling the sale? 

What kind of information is "Believed to have been published in Cornell (ATCPC), no.140"? Absolutely non, but it looks "official", no?. The collector is supposed to be too embarrassed not knowing what ATCPC means - but it is CORNELL, so must be good, eh?  What is the real reference? "Ancient Texts [....].... Private Collection?", "Arty Taxdodgers Cornell....?" What is it? And what significance is THIS tablet being "number 140" in that collection?