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LOT 0227
Elamite Ceremonial Axe with Silver Sleeve
3RD-2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
18 in. (750 grams, 45.5 cm).
A bronze ceremonial axe with later sheet-silver sleeve to the shaft, attached with ball-headed rivets; gilt dome finial to each end, the lower one in a gusseted collar.
ProvenanceAcquired in 1996.
Ex Samad Khameneh collection.
Private Swiss collection.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11647-199005.
Cf. similar axehead in the British Museum, item no. 128617; cf. for the type Maxwell-Hyslop, R., ‘Western Asiatic Shaft-Hole Axes’ in Iraq, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Spring, 1949), pp.90-129, pl.XXXIV, fig.4b.
FootnotesThe axe belongs typologically to Type 4 of Maxwell-Hyslop’s classification, with a long and thin shaft narrowing towards the base.
When technical developments resulted in heavier axe-blades, it was necessary to prolong the socket into a shaft tube and to cut away the underside of the blade where it joined to the shaft. The edge of the blade was curved and this shifted the point of impact of the cutting edge.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0227
Elamite Ceremonial Axe with Silver Sleeve
Estimate £12,000 - 17,000€13,920 - 19,720 (for guidance only)$16,200 - 22,950 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Socketted Axehead
3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £89
A Bronze Age axehead with swept blade, large socket with raised circumferential rib and a vertical rib to the rear. 545 grams, 13 cm
Fine condition.
Private UK collection, 1980s-1990s. Acquired from a UK gallery, circa 2000.
This axe belongs to a group mainly including those of rectangular shape, the blades themselves rectangular or with slightly divergent edges, with a straight or rounded edges. -
Medieval Socketted Catapult Dart
14th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
An iron catapult dart formed with a tapering cylindrical socket and rectangular-section neck with barbs, barbed triangular head with full-length medial rib to both faces. 83 grams, 25 cm
Acquired before 2000. From the collection of a European gentleman living in the UK. -
Khazar Sabre with Gilt Cross Guard with Face
9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,286
A single-edged hand-forged sabre with a gently curving blade, an iron band welded beneath the cross guard, together with a tongue along the side of the blade; the separate gilt cross guard with spherical ornamented finials to the quillons, the central panel with a stylised face flanked by a pair of leaping lions biting the top of the head, the other side with a lozenge within a ropework frame. 610 grams, 80.5 cm
Fine condition.
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector. Accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.114437-196034.
This exceptional sabre shows similarity with examples from the Caucasus and Kuban regions. The blade could be Khazar-Magyar, and certainly its best parallels are the specimens from Verchne-Szaltovo area. According to M. Gorelik, some of these sabres were produced by the Kabarians, a breakaway tribe from the Khazar State, who formed an alliance with the Magyars. The extra band welded beneath the quillons, together with the side tongue, not only protected the scabbard from being cut by the blade but, more importantly, defended the warrior’s fingers which were wrapped around the quillons when fighting.
