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LOT 1624
Bactrian Bronze Ceremonial Clawed Macehead
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 7/8 in. (89 grams, 73 mm).
Comma-shaped in plan with a lentoid-section head and clawed socket. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The 'claw mace' was an enigmatic ancient bronze weapon from the Bronze Age Near East. The hollow bulbous head was trailed by tines of varying lengths. It is believed that it was affixed over a wooden shaft and used like a club in combat, and not necessarily used as ceremonial weapon. The knife edge bulb end could have broken bones and proven to be a formidable striking weapon requiring no skill to wield. The tines would have not only been decorative, but have served to add strength below the striking end to prevent breakage. In battle, maces were often used by commanders to display rank when giving orders in battle and leading soldiers, inspiring leadership and power.
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AUCTIONS:
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Marlik Bronze Short Sword
14th-10th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,105
Formed with a slender triangular blade, raised midrib with flat upper face, penannular guard and scooped shoulders, columnar grip with gusseted collar; the upper grip decorated with vertical lines, the lower part with horizontal grooves; crescent pommel. 430 grams, 44 cm
Ex Alexander Cotton collection, Hampshire, UK 1980s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This short sword or dagger belongs to the category of blades with pennanular guard, with hilt and guard cast in one piece with the grip. This solid weapon has separate sets of encircling ribs on the grip. Negahban excavated similar weapons from the Marlik cemeteries, although sometimes the type combines grip and penannular guard with flanged hilts open to accept inlays. -
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Medieval Bronze Handled Iron Dagger with Raven
11th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Comprising a long single-edged blade with swept tip, lentoid-section hilt with long shoulder, ribbed and pelletted detailing to upper grip and openwork pommel formed as a perching raven. 157 grams, 30 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. -
Luristan Bronze Dirk
13th-12th century B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
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.
