SASANIAN BANDED AGATE STAMP SEAL WITH GRIFFON Ca. AD 400 - 600. A stamp seal of tapering polygonal form, engraved on the base with a recumbent griffon shown in profile to the left, with the head forward, a prominent crest, incised wing feathers, and a dotted band along the body. One side is engraved with a bearded male figure in a long pleated garment, shown standing and holding a sceptre and a cluster of objects. The seal is drilled laterally for suspension. For similar see: C. J. Brunner, Sasanian Stamp Seals in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cat. 22b.192. Size: 21mm x 16mm; Weight: 10g Provenance: Private London collection of an Ancient Art dealer; Formerly in a central London family collections 1990s; Suggested to be examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.; ex. 1970s/early80s UK art market.