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Details
LOT 1396
Decorated Star-Shaped Macehead
EASTERN EUROPEAN, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY A.D.
2 in. (85 grams, 53 mm).
With short thick triangular spikes, decorated with engraved concentric circles. [No Reserve]
Provenance
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Literature
Cf. Gilliot, C., Weapons and Armours, Bayeux, 2008, pp.160-161, for similar maceheads.
Footnotes
The polygonal mace evolved into the hexagonal winged mace. Originating in the east, this weapon spread across Eastern Europe during the 13th century A.D., and from there to the west. The winged mace, used by the western Europeans, was almost certainly based upon Eastern Roman or Islamic prototypes. It is relevant to note that the polygonal mace was widely used by the eastern cavalrymen (like Turkish and Mongols), during the 14th century A.D.
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