82 - A LARGE NEOLITHIC POTTERY ‘IBEX’ VESSEL, INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION, MEHRGAHR CULTURE, CIRCA 3000-2200 BC

A LARGE NEOLITHIC POTTERY ‘IBEX’ VESSEL, INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION, MEHRGAHR CULTURE, CIRCA 3000-2200 BC Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by QED Laboratoire on 24 May 2026, reference number QED2620/FC-0201, based on two samples taken from the neck and base of the vessel, determines the average age of the last firing to be between 4,200 and 5,000 years (1σ), consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot. Balochistan. Masterfully potted, the globular body supported on a short foot, with gently sloping shoulders rising to a subtly waisted neck with a broad circular mouth. The exterior painted in dark brownish-black slip with a continuous frieze centered by a stylized ibex in profile, depicted with exaggerated horns and an elongated body, interspersed with rosette motifs, with geometric bands encircling the lower body and neck. Provenance: Property of a North London Gentleman, acquired before 2000 and thence by descent. Martin Doustar, Brussels, Belgium, acquired from the above via the UK auction market. Martin Doustar is a Brussels-based art dealer and collector whose career spans more than two decades. He began his professional journey in the early 2000s with a focus on Modern Art, developing a keen interest in the ways early twentieth-century artists were influenced by ‘primitive’ art from Africa and Oceania. Over time, his connoisseurship expanded into archaeological and ethnographic fields, with particular expertise in the ancient arts of the Pacific, Africa, and pre-Columbian America, while also encompassing Asian material culture and modern masterpieces. He is the author of numerous scholarly catalogs and has organized thematic exhibitions on a wide range of subjects. Condition: Good condition, with expected wear, firing irregularities, signs of prolonged burial, encrustations, extensive rubbing to pigments, and few small chips. Weight: 3.5 kg Dimensions: Height 29.3 cm, Diameter 34 cm The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age culture in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BC to 1300 BC, and in its mature form from 2600 BC to 1900 BC. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilizations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread. Its sites spanned an area from northeast Afghanistan and much of Pakistan to western and northwestern India. The civilization flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The prehistoric cultures of Balochistan occupy a foundational place in the early history of South Asia and provide important insight into the development of settled civilization before the rise of the Indus Valley Civilization. Among the most significant archaeological traditions in the region are Mehrgarh, the painted ceramics known as Nal Ware, and the later Kulli Culture, each representing successive stages in the social and artistic evolution of prehistoric communities. These developments can also be considered within a broader network of cultural interaction extending westward across the Iranian plateau toward regions such as Nakhichevan in the South Caucasus. During the late fourth and third millennia BC, communities in Balochistan, Iran, and Nakhichevan participated in interconnected spheres of exchange in which ceramic technologies, decorative traditions, raw materials, and symbolic motifs circulated across vast distances. Literature comparison: Compare a related Nakhichevan neolithic pottery vessel decorated with ibexes, dated 15th-13th century BC, 49 cm high, found at the village of Shahtakhty, in the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan, Baku. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 21 May 2003, lot 601 Price: EUR 7,170 or approx. EUR 12,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: An Indus Valley pottery jar and a cup, 2300-2000 BC and 3300-3000 BC Expert remark: Compare the related decoration and motifs. Note the much smaller size (12 cm) and that the lot further comprises a smaller cup with geometric decoration.