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LOT 1292
Bronze Age Pancake Ingot Fragment Group
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 1/8 - 2 3/4 in. (508 grams total, 54-69 mm).
Comprising three pieces of copper 'bun' ingot, one showing the characteristic edge cross-section. [3, No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK gallery, early 2000s.
FootnotesThese bun ingots were cast in shallow saucer depressions cut into rock where the copper ore was mined and smelted; they were then carried and traded across Europe before being broken up, melted down and having tin added to form bronze alloy; fragments such as these are frequently found as part of smith's hoards of, usually, worn out tools, weapons and raw material from the Late Bronze Age.
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Bronze Age Socketted Axehead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Wedge-shaped cheeks with faceted upper and lower faces, roughly round-section socket with gently facetted collar and inverted rim; slightly convex cutting edge. 151 grams, 99 mm
Acquired on the EU art market around 2000. From the collection of a North American gentleman. -
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.
