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LOT 1379
Bactrian Bronze Axehead
3RD-2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
4 1/8 in. (227 grams, 10.6 cm).
With curved flaring cutting edge, characteristic curving shape and narrow socket, blade end squaring off, shaft hole pierced on both sides.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Cf. Gernez, G., L’armament en métal au Proche et Moyen-Orient: des origines a 1750 av. J.C., Paris, 2007, fig.2.15, type H2.Ia1, for the type.
FootnotesThese collared axes have the specific feature of being equipped with variously shaped rear extensions. The provenance of this typology is clearer than others: these axes came from Margiana and southern Bactria. Gonur Depe and Susa yielded a rather atypical and probably imported example. P. Amiet suggests that they were an adoption of Elamite material, from conceptual and institutional models. They would have developed from the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1379
Bactrian Bronze Axehead
Estimate £350 - 450€410 - 520 (for guidance only)$470 - 610 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
19th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Including triangular, leaf-shaped, barbed, paddle-shaped with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib, and others. 176 grams total, 25-77 mm
Ex London art market, 1980-1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Some of the represented arrowheads (paddle-shaped) were typical of the Old Babylonian Empire. The shoulders were pronounced and the arrowhead had a rectangular-section tapering tang. This simple form was popular throughout and such items are comparatively common finds in the Holy Land. -
Roman 'Crown Type' Sword Hilt Guard
1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Ellipsoid in section with central slot to accept the tang; scooped 'cocked hat' profile to the broad faces, with horizontal rounded band to the lower edge. 17.6 grams, 47 mm
Found Tuesday 1st April 2025 in Wenham Parva, Babergh, Suffolk, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.SF-92FBDC. -
Kriegsmarine WWI German Naval Officer's Sword
Early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising a slender single-edged blade; the hilt composed of a wire-bound ribbed bone handle, a lion-head pommel with inset eyes (one absent), and an ornate guard with a folding edge to one side. 612 grams, 94.5 cm
From the private collection of author and historian Dr DeWitt Bailey, one of the global authorities on the confederate army in the US civil war; thence by descent to his grandson.
