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LOT 0243
Amarlu Type Bronze Sword with Blood Channels
LATE 2ND MILLENIUM B.C.
28 3/4 in. (668 grams, 73 cm).
Formed with a long triangular blade, thick midrib with parallel fullers, rectangular guard, long tang with folded end.
ProvenanceAcquired on the London art market, prior to 1980s.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
See Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, no.36, for type.
FootnotesThis sword finds a good parallel with a bronze sword with bell-shaped pommel, today in the National Museum of Tehran. Originally these swords had separately made hilt which was then cast on the blade. These swords were more typical of the North-West Persian territory, especially in the Amlash and Gilan areas.
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Luristan Bronze Axehead
12th-11th century B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £40
With elliptical socket and slightly flaring cheeks with cutting edge. 939 grams, 17.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The axe corresponds to the Maxwell-Hyslop Type 20A, similar to specimens from Ordu and purely Asiatic in inspiration. An axe from Giyan has a distinct shaft tube which is not present on the Ordu axe, but the shape of the blade is similar and it is probable that smiths travelling over the Eastern Anatolian and Persian trade routes were responsible for making these typologies of axes. -
Amarlu Type Bronze Short Sword
Late 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,755
Composed of a massive triangular blade with a slightly raised mid-rib flanked by three parallel rows on each side, the guard formed with a pronounced trident shape, ornamented with small geometric square recesses, the hilt with square-section grip incised with four vertical rows of similar square recesses, double broad crescentic open pommel surmounted by a broad raised median rib which links the double crescentic halves; repaired. 911 grams, 53 cm
One horn cracked and repaired
Acquired 1970s-1980s. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Moorey, analysing similar swords found in Amarlu, stated that the blade and tang were made first, forged to shape by hammering at a high temperature. The next step was to cover the tang with a clayed material. Once dry, this material formed the core for the casting. Then a hollow mould of the exact shape of the shoulder, grooved hilt and pommel was made around the clay core covering the tang. Finally, liquid metal was poured into the mould. The weapon was then finished by hammering the pommel and shoulder to the hilt. -
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Luristan Bronze Butted Axe
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
The cylindrical shaft decorated with three bosses, blade with diverging edges, the upper sides of the hole and part of the blade decorated with a dotted pattern. 375 grams, 17.5 cm
Fine condition.
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The earliest Luristan bronze weapons, particularly daggers, axes, and adzes, share many similarities in form with Mesopotamian artefacts of the 3rd millennium BC. The unadorned weapons, especially the axes, adzes and picks, were made using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds with a core inserted into them to form the socket for the shaft.
