Nabatean Camel and Rider Miniature FigureNear East, Jordan, Nabatean, ca....
Nabatean Camel and Rider Miniature FigureNear East, Jordan, Nabatean, ca. 1200–1000 BCE. A dromedary strides forward on four stout legs, its long neck arched and small head tipped up, while a rider sits astride the high hump. The group is solid cast as one piece, the modeling summary but assured: a rope leader line loops the animal's neck, and the rider wears an ankle-length garment with a banded head covering, arms held forward as if to the reins. Surface encrustation of mottled blue-green and earthen brown veils the details. Miniature in scale, such caravan images were likely votive or amuletic, invoking the beast on which desert trade and survival depended. A scarce type. Mounted on an old block base. Size: 2.5" W x 2.875" H (6.4 cm W x 7.3 cm H).
The camel is the defining animal of the North Arabian world, and its domestication transformed the incense roads that carried frankincense and myrrh north from Arabia Felix toward the Mediterranean. The Nabateans built their wealth on precisely that traffic, controlling the desert routes and the water that made them passable, and camel imagery recurs across their rock reliefs, coinage, and small bronzes. Rider-and-mount figures of this kind, cast in miniature, are generally understood as votive offerings or personal talismans rather than toys, deposited or carried to secure safe passage and the prosperity of a caravan.
Provenance: Private CT. collection. Ex. Yegotiel Saidian collection, London and Jerusalem, left Iran mid 1930’s, collection formed prior to 1965. Saidnian to grandson by descent.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73294Overall mottled blue-green and brown encrusted surface patina. Intact.
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Nabatean Camel and Rider Miniature FigureNear East, Jordan, Nabatean, ca. 1200–1000 BCE. A dromedary strides forward on four stout legs, its long neck arched and small head tipped up, while a rider sits astride the high hump. The group is solid cast as one piece, the modeling summary but assured: a rope leader line loops the animal's neck, and the rider wears an ankle-length garment with a banded head covering, arms held forward as if to the reins. Surface encrustation of mottled blue-green and earthen brown veils the details. Miniature in scale, such caravan images were likely votive or amuletic, invoking the beast on which desert trade and survival depended. A scarce type. Mounted on an old block base. Size: 2.5" W x 2.875" H (6.4 cm W x 7.3 cm H).
The camel is the defining animal of the North Arabian world, and its domestication transformed the incense roads that carried frankincense and myrrh north from Arabia Felix toward the Mediterranean. The Nabateans built their wealth on precisely that traffic, controlling the desert routes and the water that made them passable, and camel imagery recurs across their rock reliefs, coinage, and small bronzes. Rider-and-mount figures of this kind, cast in miniature, are generally understood as votive offerings or personal talismans rather than toys, deposited or carried to secure safe passage and the prosperity of a caravan.
Provenance: Private CT. collection. Ex. Yegotiel Saidian collection, London and Jerusalem, left Iran mid 1930’s, collection formed prior to 1965. Saidnian to grandson by descent.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73294Overall mottled blue-green and brown encrusted surface patina. Intact.
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
