With a slightly domed circular base, the sides with two semicircular handles and tapering toward the flat everted rim, finely carved with female figures with bone-inlaid eyes holding vertically hanging scorpions by the tail in each hand, below a band of horizontally positioned scorpions, the circular and oval tail segments with deep 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 Évariste 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: Good condition, especially when considering the dating of this piece. Scratches, nicks, small losses, encrustations, cracks, minor old fills, most inlays lost (except for the figures’ eyes). Remnants of old varnish.

French Export License: Certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel Nr. 184681 dated 9 June 2017 has been granted and is accompanying this lot.

Weight: 11.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 22.5 cm

Auction result comparison: Compare with a related chlorite jar from the same period, decorated with hybrid scorpion-men, with similar recesses for inlays, but of much smaller size (7.3 cm high), at Christie’s London in Antiquities on 15 May 2002, lot 265, sold for GBP 19,975.

公元前三千年大型西亞綠泥石蠍子紋罐
圓底微凸，肩部側面雙耳。罐子裝飾著女性人物，雙手提著蠍子的尾巴。頸部蠍子紋飾帶有著圓形和橢圓形深凹口可以鑲嵌寶石。

來源：Arthur Huc (1854-1932)收藏。 Marcel Huc繼承，自此保存在同一家族至今。 Arthur Huc是La Dépêchedu Midi的主編，這是當時法國圖盧茲的主要報紙。他還是一位出色的藝術評論家，也是包括Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec在內的幾位藝術家的早期贊助人。同時，Arthur Huc是一位熱衷於亞洲藝術的收藏家，他的熱情源於他的傳奇祖先Évariste Régis Huc，中文名為古伯察（1813-1860），是法國天主教神父和旅行作家，在他的《韃靼西藏旅行記》書中描述了他在清朝的遊歷以及對蒙古尤其是當時幾乎鮮為人知的西藏的敘述。
收藏清單：1954年，圖盧茲法院法警 L. Magniette奉命對Marcel Huc從其父親Arthur Huc繼承的收藏品進行完整目錄彙編，即所謂的“ Inventaire Huc”。在目錄清單裏這麽描述本拍品：一組4件鑲嵌著象牙或骨質的罐，高21-30厘米，Massoudi 或北伊朗。隨附目錄清單副本及其封面。
圖片：Arthur Huc (1854-1932)
品相：狀況良好，尤其是在考慮到這件拍品的年代。 划痕、缺口、小缺損、結垢和裂縫，小修，大部分鑲嵌物丟失（人物的眼睛除外）。殘留的舊清漆。

法國出口證書：隨附2017年6月9日出具的Certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel 證書，編號 184681 。

重量：11.9 公斤
尺寸：高22.5 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一件同一年代的綠泥石罐，蠍子紋，相似鑲嵌物，但尺寸更小 (高7.3 厘米), 見倫敦佳士得Antiquities 拍品2002年5月15日 lot 265, 售價GBP 19,975.