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LOT 0314
Elamite Bronze Macehead with Winged Human and Animal Figure
2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
3 7/8 in. (285 grams, 98 mm).
Of cylindrical form with a raised collar at each end, one side depicting a nude male with a projecting grotesque head, the other side with a projecting ram's head with a long, curving serpent below, two crescentic wings projecting from the upper part of the socket.
ProvenanceAcquired before 1983.
Ex London gallery, 1990s.
Private collection, London, UK.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13258-253387.
See similar typologies of mace-heads or sceptres, Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron, ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, nos.294-295, for the type.
FootnotesMaces in the Middle East had always had a double function since the early periods: a) as a weapon and b) as a status symbol or symbol of rank and office. The bull-headed mace, called gorz-e gavsar in Persian, was already in use in the ancient Elam and Luristan, and was also common in religious ceremonies.
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LOT 0314
Elamite Bronze Macehead with Winged Human and Animal Figure
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000€1,740 - 2,320 (for guidance only)$2,030 - 2,700 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Bronze Axehead
Late 3rd-early 2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £111
With a short socketted shaft, the plain rectangular blade broadening towards the cutting edge; side holes on the shaft. 446 grams, 11.4 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
Unadorned weapons, especially axes, adzes, and picks, were made by Luristan craftsmen using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds, into which a core was inserted to form the socket for the shaft. Typically, the metallic composition consisted of a combination of arsenical bronze and copper, together with a small percentage of lead. -
King James II Period Iron Lance Head
Late 17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Comprising a flat-section leaf-shaped blade with a short round-section neck, a square-section baluster with hatched surfaces, and a narrow flared socket with remains of original wooden shaft. 162 grams, 28.5 cm
By repute from the site of the battle of Sedgemoor (6th July 1685), Somerset, UK. Formerly from the collection of gentleman from South London, UK. Property of a private collector, West London, UK. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
1000-700 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Comprising fifteen tanged arrowheads, four with elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, two of squared type with flat tang, three with barbed shoulders and short cylindrical stem with handle for the shaft; two with squared shoulders and rectangular stem with handle for the shaft, one with leafed elongated blade, one with wide triangular head and long handle for the shaft, and other two long and spiked with raised midrib. 240 grams total, 7.1-16.5 cm
London, UK, collection, 1990s.
Some of the arrowheads belong to type V of the Khorasani classification: subtype D (triangular arrowheads with rounded or angular midrib) and subtype C, arrowheads with elongated, triangular shape with barbed shoulders and convex sides, and a raised midrib with a sharp central line.