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LOT 1378
Chinese Chou Bronze Spearhead
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
12 1/2 in. (250 grams, 32 cm).
With thick midrib, leaf-shaped blade with lateral spurs, deep tubular socket with fastening hole for the attachment to the wooden shaft.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Cf. Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, (plate XXXVIII nos.47-48, for a similar spearhead from Wuchengqiao, country of Liuhe, Prov. Jiangsu, and Fengshuiling, near Changzhen, prov. Shanxi.
FootnotesThe Chou chariot carried three crewmen, a driver, an archer on the left and a man armed with spear or dagger-axe on the right. The long spears were in bronze until the 300 B.C., when the Chou warriors began to adopt steel spearheads, 'as sharp as a bee's sting'.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1378
Chinese Chou Bronze Spearhead
Estimate £700 - 900€810 - 1,040 (for guidance only)$950 - 1,220 (for guidance only)
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Luristan Bronze Axehead
3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
With a short blade flaring towards the cutting edge, rounded projection to the butt, rolled ridge around the shaft hole. 192 grams, 75 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
The type corresponds to the Gernez type H.2.Fa, of axes with symmetrical collar, rear hump and rectangular blade. The exact provenance of only three axes of this type outside Luristan are known, mainly in Elam: one was found at Tepe Giyan, a second comes from a pit tomb in Susa and the last, a miniature, belongs to level VI of Tepe Gawra, dated to the last third of the 3rd millennium B.C. All the others are known as originating from Luristan. -
Luristan Bronze Armour Belt with Double Scroll Terminals
9th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
A broad hammered military belt or cuirass band with plain surface, the terminals shaped as a double spiral ornament, holes in the centre of both ends for fastening. 330 grams, 22 cm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
The rich and noble aristocrats of Luristan, Elamites, Hurrians, Lullubians, Kutians, and Kassites, went to battle splendidly equipped and used magnificent bronze armours. For metal sheets used for quiver plaques and bronze protective belts or shields, they used the hammering technique (Čakoškāri). -
Mesopotamian Bronze Arrowhead Collection
Circa 1800-900 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Including leaf-shaped, barbed, and other small types. 330 grams total, 44-90 mm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s.
Paddle-shaped arrowheads with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib and the blade shaped to a point were typical of Old Babylonian Empire. The shoulders were pronounced and the arrowhead had a rectangular section tapering tang.
