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Ancient Art, Antiquities, Natural History & Coins

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Auction Highlights:

Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,850
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,440
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,080
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Sold for (Inc. bp): £23,400
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,750
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,680
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,700
Lot No. 1181
11
Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Incuse geometric detail to the hoop, flange with wheel motif. 10.19 grams, 34.62 mm overall, 20.76 mm internal diameter (approximate size British W 1/2, USA 11 1/4, Europe 25.66, Japan 24)

English collection, early 2000s.
Ex central London gallery.

Lot No. 1184
8
Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Primarily composed of socketted types with triangular cross-sections. 198 grams total, 26-43 mm

Ex private collection, 1980s.
Acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s.

Lot No. 1187
1
Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Leaf-shaped blade with pronounced midrib, square-section neck with flared ends and thick square-section tang. 299 grams, 26.7 cm

Ex German collection, Cologne, 1980-1990s.

See Negahban, E., Weapons from Marlik, Berlin, 1995, plate VI, no.78; Khorasani M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, item 278, for type.

The spearhead belongs to the type I of tripartite spears with broad mid-rib, reinforced shaft opening to reveal the tang and rounded shoulders. The blade with curved shoulders, a sharp point and a rectangular mid-rib. Stutzinger dated these pieces to 1200-1100 B.C.
Lot No. 1188
4
Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Including socketted heads of various types, each with a convex cutting edge. 4.27 kg total, 12-19.2 cm

Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

Lot No. 1189
3
Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Curved cutting edge and tongue-shaped mounting blade to the rear. 180 grams, 18.1 cm

English collection, 1990s.
Ex North London gallery.

Lot No. 1191
7
Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Three tanged arrowheads with broadly leaf-shaped heads with shallow barbs, each with a raised midrib to both faces. 83 grams total, 13.5-14.5 cm

Ex private collection, 1980s.
Acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s.

Lot No. 1192
 
Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Triangular profile with projecting midribs, round shank with raised collar above the square-section tapered tang. 186 grams, 28.5 cm

Ex German collection, Cologne, 1980-1990s.

Cf. Gernez, G., L’armament en métal au Proche et Moyen-Orient: des origines a 1750 av. J.C., Paris, 2007, fig.2.88, subtype of tripartite spears L.2.Bc, for the type.

This variant of the tripartite spear is characterised by a rhomboidal or swollen section blade, often with a short intermediate part widened so as to form a clean stop and with a curved tang, sometimes ending in a button (here unfortunately missing). Most spears have medium dimensions (23 cm to 36 cm), but others are elongated (more than 50 cm).
Lot No. 1193
6
Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Each a scrolled bar with gently carinated upper face, formed as serpents or other animals with stylised geometric detailing; attachment perforations to one terminal. 16.5 grams total, 65 mm each

Acquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.

Cf. Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 2006, p.96, fig.51,4 for similar.

In the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D., the Celtic fastening system of the ring mail armour (gallica, lorica ferro aspera) became the standard in the Imperial Roman army, with a pivot attached to the breast and hinged to the edges of the humeralia (shoulder guards). The chest fastener had various different designs. The double hooks, S-shaped and usually with snake-head terminals, were secured by a central rivet on the chest. The system allowed excellent freedom of movement, giving greater protection to the shoulders and the arms. Similar fasteners for infantry mail have been found on the Kalkriese battlefield, some of them also decorated with niello and inscribed with the name of the soldier.
Lot No. 1194
2
Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
With pierced crescent motifs to the shank, free-running star-shaped rowel and geometric engraving to heelband with lozengiform terminals. 349 grams, 22 cm

Acquired from Czerny's Auctions, Italy, 2016, lot 390.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.

Accompanied by copy of Czerny's invoice and lot details.

Lot No. 1195
21
Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Suitable for use with an onager or other catapult-type siege weapon; with smooth surface. 1.4 kg, 10 cm

Acquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.

See Wilkins, A., Roman Imperial Artillery, Solway Print, 2017.

The operation of the onager (Latin for 'wild ass') is first mentioned in 353 A.D. by Ammianus Marcellinus in his Res Gestae and more fully in Vegetius's Epitoma Rei Militaris probably written in the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (378-395 A.D.).
Lot No. 1196
2
Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Short triangular two-edged blade with thick midrib, long round-section neck with V-shaped recesses to the lower end, tapering square-section tang. 268 grams, 34.5 cm

Ex German collection, Cologne, 1980-1990s.

Cf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, pp.240-241; Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 2, London, 2004, p.36, no.40.

The spearhead belongs to a typology of spears widespread in the Marlik region, which Negahban divided into two categories. This spearhead belongs to type II, spearheads with triangular blades with rather short blade and shaft with a long tang, the total length of the blade being less than that of the shaft and tang together.
Comprising a smooth, slightly curved and unornamented blade, the hilt wrapped with organic plaited and plain string; tubular bamboo(?) scabbard wrapped with plaited string. 886 grams, 91 cm long

Ex Reeman Dansie, Colchester, Essex, UK.

Cf. similar specimen in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, accession number 36.25.1437a,b.

The dha may have its origins with the Tai people who migrated to the area from present-day Yunnan Province in southern China. This sabre varied considerably according to locality but they shared some features that define them apart from other weapons and tools of the area, like the round cross-section grip, a long, gently curving blade with a single edge, and the absence of a guard.
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