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LOT 0280
Bronze Age 'Axel Guttman' European Bronze Rapier with Spirals
16TH-14TH CENTURY B.C.
17 1/8 in. (520 grams total, 43.5 cm high including stand).
With swollen tapering blade, finely incised with concentric rings and spirals at the top of the blade and extended parallel lines; pierced hilt for the fastening of an organic hilt; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceEx Axel Guttmann collection, AG 1033.
The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, Part 2, 28 April 2004, lot 17.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no. 11829-207734.
Born H. and Habsen, S., Helme und Waffen Alteuropas: Sammlung Axel Guttmann, IX, Mainz, 2001, (AG 1033), pp.96-109.
LiteratureCf. Falkenstein, F., ‘Gewalt und Krieg in der Bronzezeit Mitteleuropeas’ in Bericht der Bayerischen Bodendenkmalpfelge, 2006/2007, 47/48, pp.33-52, fig.2, for a similar complete sword with hilt.
FootnotesFrom the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C., the bronze sword became the most efficient and feared weapon, as well as the symbol of an aristocratic warrior.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0280
Bronze Age 'Axel Guttman' European Bronze Rapier with Spirals
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
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Bronze Age Spectacle Brooch
8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Comprising a pair of opposing wire coils decreasing in thickness from edge to centre, a figure-of-eight to the centre; integral pin and catch-plate to the reverse. 84 grams, 13.3 cm
From the family collection of a Surrey gentleman since before 1960.
The spectacle fibula was widely distributed from the Balkans and northern Greece to southern Italy. Seven variations occur under this type with modifications made to the discs of the fibulae as well as the central connecting device. In the first and second variations (variant 2-2b of Hambleton, the type here), the discs are coiled, whereas in the third and fourth the centre of the coil is left open. The figure eight loop also becomes shorter and wider in the fourth variant. -
Bronze Age European Spearhead
Late 2nd-early 1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Leaf-shaped, with bevelled edges and lozenge-sectioned mid-rib, socket pierced twice. 211 grams, 37.4 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The shape of the blade resembles a willow leaf with its widest part situated in the middle of its length. The origin of this shape is still not very clear. It was probably invented somewhere in Anatolia or the Near East. In the Aegean it appears for the first time in LH II A, before spreading around Western Europe. -
Bronze Age Pendant Pair
10th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising a pair of heavy crescent-shaped penannular rings each attached to a split ring. 84 grams total, 62-63 mm
Ex old English collection. London art market, 1980s.
