Mesopotamian, Babylon, ca. 1st millennium BCE. A mesmerizing weight or pendant carved from white marble and depicting an abstract rendering of a sleeping duck, bilaterally drilled behind the neck with the duck's long pointy beak below. The Mesopotamians used sets of standard weights to conduct their business and set rigid penalities against individuals who used false weights. The weights themselves were typically made from a hard stones like hematite or in this case marble. The most common form was a simple barrel shape; however, weights in the form of a duck like this example, were also popular. Size: 1.25" L x .75" W (3.2 cm x 1.9 cm)

Provenance: private Owen collection, New Jersey, USA, acquired in the 1990s from a US-based dealer

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