Amlash Bronze Lancehead

With lentoid-section blade, tongue-shaped in plan, integral tapering hilt with flared finial, lateral flanges to accept a panel of bone or wood to each face forming the grip. 174 grams, 34 cm



Ex Joseph J. Gancie (1923-2010), Washington, Silver Spring, Maryland. with Alex Cooper Auctioneers Inc., sale 1035, 27 January 2013, lot 162a. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The dirk belongs to the type III in the Medvedskaya classification, used in Near East from the 13th to the 6th century B.C. The type is the 32a of the Maxwell-Hyslop study. The Asiatic daggers of this type are confined to Syria and Persia, but Transcaucasia also provides an interesting analogy from Kalekent on the Baku peninsula, where a pointed straight-sided dagger blade has a flanged hilt with the whole of the side flanges bent over the centre.

A section of scale armour coat composed of 162 overlapping tongue-shaped scales mounted onto a cloth panel, each with three holes to the top and some with one or two holes to the right for fastening onto the original leather backing. 165 grams, 16 x 12 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12469-231236. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The favourite armour of the Scythian noblemen was composed of scales, usually protecting the torso, sometimes the entire body (kataphraktoi). The Scythians found that the most efficient method was to arrange the overlapping ‘fish-scales’ as a corselet made of a number of bronze and iron plates, which then protected the wearer against sword and spear thrusts. Our scales correspond well to bronze scales found in May 1961 in an accidentally destroyed burial in a barrow, near the village of Nadezhda Sovetsky district. They were discovered together with iron scales, a Greek Corinthian helmet, fragments of an amphora, five arrowheads and fragments of an iron sword. Most of these bronze scales were oblong in shape, with a sub-rectangular upper end and a rounded lower end, but slightly bigger than our scales.

Comprising a gently curving blade, long neck with a spur, round socket with lateral flanges. 633 grams, 19 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.