10 - An Old Babylonian terracotta cuneiform barrel with inscription to Sin-iddinam (R. 1849-1843 B.C.)

An Old Babylonian terracotta cuneiform barrel with inscription to Sin-iddinam (R. 1849-1843 B.C.) Of ovoid form with flat base and rounded top open at the centre, the inscription encircling the body, Provenance : with Elias S. David (1891-1969), New York, thence by descent. with Alan Safani, New York. David Jessner, Lausanne acquired from the above in 2012. Elias S. David (1891-1969) was one of the most prominent dealers of ancient Near Eastern art during the mid 20th century. David was born in the east, likely Lebanon or Iraq, and was sent to boarding school in Paris at the age of 12. He first began dealing in art while in Paris, and then moved to New York at the start of World War I in 1914. While he briefly had a gallery, he preferred to work from home. Many masterpieces passed through his hands and are now in some of the great museums of the world, including the Louvre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He had a wide circle of friends in the art world, including Fellow dealer Pierro Tozzi, scholar Edith Porada, and collectors such as Natacha Rambova, Leon Pomerance, Norbert Schimmel and Alastair Bradley Martin. Charles K. Wilkinson, curator of Near Eastern Art at The Met from 1956-1963 was a frequent dinner guest at the David home. Correspondence between Wilkinson and others at The Met from the 1940s-1960s not only documents his activities as a dealer, but informs how his generosity towards the museum led to his being honored as a Fellow of the Museum for life, a privilege which was extended to his wife after his death in 1969. Most of the antiquities presented here were appraised by Tozzi in the early 1970s and were placed in storage for over 40 years.