A LARGE AND IMPORTANT 'LEOPARD QUEEN' CHLORITE JAR, WESTERN ASIA, 3RD MILLENNIUM BC The massive and heavy vessel is supported on a domed base with tapering sides rising to a lipped rim finely incised with diapered lozenges, boldly carved in relief with two standing female figures, each holding two leopards by their tails, each flanked by two confronting scorpions below the protruding handles, the leopards with many circular recesses to take inlays.

Provenance: Arthur Huc (1854-1932). Marcel Huc, inherited from the above. Thence by descent within the same family. Arthur Huc was the chief editor of La Dépêche du Midi, at the time the leading newspaper in Toulouse, France. He was also an accomplished art critic and early patron of several artists, including Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec. At the same time, Arthur Huc was a keen collector of Asian art, a passion that he inherited from his legendary ancestor Evariste Régis Huc, also known as the Abbé Huc (1813-1860), a French Catholic priest and traveler who became famous for his accounts of Qing-era China, Mongolia and especially the then-almost-unknown Tibet in his book “Remembrances of a Journey in Tartary, Tibet, and China”.
Inventory List: In 1954, L. Magniette, bailiff of the court in Toulouse (Huissier), was ordered to compile a complete inventory of the collection inherited by Marcel Huc from his father, Arthur Huc, the so-called “Inventaire Huc”. The present lot is listed in this inventory as follows: “Quatre pots anciens en pierre sculptée avec décor d'incrustations ivoire ou os? Haut: 21 cm à 30, Etiquettes: Massoudi ou Iran Nord?” (Four old carved stone jars with inlays of ivory or bone? Height: 21 cm to 30, labels: Massoudi or Northern Iran?). A copy of the inventory list and cover page are accompanying this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, especially when considering the high age of this piece. Scratches, cracks, nicks, losses, minor fills, encrustations, the inlays are all lost. Remnants of old varnish. Significant wear, traces of aging, weathering overall.
French Export License: Certificat d'exportation pour un bien culturel Nr. 184682, dated 9 June 2017, has been granted and a copy is accompanying this lot.

Dimensions: Height 20 cm, Diameter 40 cm

Literature comparison:
A related chlorite vessel with two zebu, of smaller size, dated 2600-2350 BC and attributed to Al-Rafiah, on the east coast of the island of Tarut, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2014.717.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's London, 15 May 2002, lot 265
Price: GBP 19,975 or approx. EUR 23,750 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Western Asiatic chlorite jar, circa 2500 B.C.
Expert remark: Note the much smaller height (10.8 cm)

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, 6 March 2021, lot 694
Price: EUR 53,720 or approx. EUR 58,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large and heavy Western Asiatic chlorite 'scorpion' vessel, 3^rd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the related form as well as the closely related decoration with similar female figures, though holding scorpions (instead of leopards as on the present lot). The relief and inlay are closely related as well. Note the height (22.5 cm).