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LOT 1075
Chinese Bronze Military Flag or Banner Finial
CIRCA 5TH-3RD CENTURY B.C. OR LATER
13 3/8 in. (873 grams, 34 cm).
Composed of a socketted blade divided into six sections with sharp grooves, the shaft with four circumferential bands.
ProvenanceEx old English collection.
London art market, pre 2000.
Property of a London, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003), pl.XXXVIII, nos.54, 58-59, for similar.
FootnotesThe Chinese, having adopted the use of chariot from the west, judging by the monuments and literature used it primarily for archery combat, as evidenced by the absence of spearheads in chariot burials of the Yin Kingdom. But already from the early Zhou Dynasty chariot warriors used a spear. Massive Yin spears were the weapon of dense infantry formations. The shape of our specimen, probably used as standard finial, recalls that of a spear from Zhongzhoulu, Luoyang, Prov. Henan, dated at the 5th-4th centuries B.C., and of two spears from the Zheng fortress of Xinzheng Country, dated to the 4th-3rd century B.C.
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Medieval Iron Socketted Javelin
Circa 15th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
With square-section spike and flaring socket. 342 grams, 36 cm
Ex California, USA, collection formed since the late 1960s. European art market before the late 1990s. -
Late Roman Iron Sword of Herulian Type
5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,500
The double-edged spatha with parallel-sided blade and pointed tip, battle nicks to both cutting edges; the hilt and tang extending over the blade as a tight-fitting sleeve; remains of rivet on the tang. 604 grams, 89 cm
Ex private collection of Mr M.B., Mainz, Germany, since the 1980s. Acquired from the above, 2004. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no. 11939-210916.
This sword belongs to the group of spathae of late Roman typology, widespread among the Germanic and Abkhazian foederati, and garrison troops of the Northern Black Sea and Caucasus. These swords could have been the prototypes of the Eastern Roman spathia, classified in the Strategikon of Pseudo-Mavrikios as Herouliskia (Herulian swords) for their connections with the Germanic mercenaries bearing them in service with the Roman army. -
Viking Age and Later Axehead Group
Circa 11th-18th century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Comprising socketted axeheads of various types; some possibly stamped with maker's marks. 7 kg total, 16-24.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
