Details

LOT 0279

Bronze Age Sacrificed British Long Sword

1500-1100 B.C.

22 1/2 in. (918 grams total, 57 cm high including stand).

Bronze sword or rapier with gently tapering cutting edges, thick midrib with lateral beading for most of the blade's length; flared plate to the hilt with two holes at the end to accept attachment rivets; substantially complete; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Provenance

Reputedly found in the River Blackwater, Bradwell, Essex.
with Christie's, South Kensington, 13 May 2003, lot 259.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11881-207821.

Literature

See Trump, B.A.V., The Origin and Development of British Middle Bronze Age Rapiers, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Vol. XXVIII, 1962.

Footnotes

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.