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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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Luristan Bronze Dagger
13th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With a lentoid-section blade, tongue-shaped in plan, with an integral tapering hilt with flared finial, lateral flanges to accept a panel of bone to each face forming the grip. 185 grams, 32.5 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
The art of Luristan can be described as the art of nomadic herdsmen and horsemen with an emphasis on the crafting of small, easily portable objects, among these a great number of bronze weapons. The rich and noble aristocrats of the Luristan, Elamites, Hurrians, Lullubians, Kutians, and Kassites went to battle splendidly equipped and wore magnificent bronze armour, using maces, spears and daggers as offensive weapons, alongside spears, bows and arrows. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Tanged Spearhead
12th-11th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Comprising a triangular blade with a facetted, flaring neck and a rectangular-section tang. 288 grams, 30 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
The weapon belongs to the type 1 of the spear-head classification of Khorasani, mainly originating from Marlik or Amlash areas. Similar pieces have been dated by Stutzinger to 1200-1100 B.C. -
Luristan Bronze Socketted Axehead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
With a long D-shaped blade with a scooped profile and a tubular socket offset at the base. 313 grams, 16 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
Many examples of bronze axeheads are attributed to the Luristan culture and various shapes have been discussed by different scholars. Moorey (1971, pp.39-41) shows similar axeheads, stating that the texts executed on some specimens have shown them made of arsenical bronze, and attributes them to the late 3rd millennium B.C. or 2nd millennium B.C., period in which this alloy was used abundantly.
