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Details
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.
Provenance
Ex 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.
Published
Born H. and Habsen, S., Helme und Waffen Alteuropas: Sammlung Axel Guttmann, IX, Mainz, 2001, (AG 1033), pp.96-109.
Literature
Cf. 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.
Footnotes
From 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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LOT 0280
Bronze Age 'Axel Guttman' European Bronze Rapier with Spirals
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
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In the terminology of Bronze Age studies, a weapon of this type less than 30 cm in length is called a 'dirk' and beyond that length it is classified as a 'rapier'. The longer examples are sometimes considered to have been impractical for use as weapons due to the limitations of the casting process making the blade brittle; however, the evidence for repairs and modifications indicates that they were frequently retained in active use for some time.
