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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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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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African Yaka Sword with Scabbard
19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
An iron sword with leaf-shaped blade decorated with a simple punched line punched and zig-zag ornament; the hilt partially covered with leather with stitched junctions, twisted iron wire 'cage' and elongated iron pommel; accompanied by a fragmentary wooden leather-covered sheath with spatulate end. 684 grams, 70 cm long
Acquired locally by donation. Property of Sense Charity, Cambridgeshire, UK.
The Yaka are an African ethnic group found in the south-west of the DRC, with the Angolan border to their west. The Yaka people were historically known for their excellent diplomatic and military abilities which enabled them to found the Yaka kingdom in the 17th century. One of their distinctive weapons was a long, straight sabre which developed into an increasingly elaborate style during the 19th and 20th centuries A.D. -
Western Asiatic Paddle-Shaped Axehead
3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
A copper-alloy axehead with roughly lozenge-shaped butt, oblong socket and paddle-shaped cheeks; incised concentric lines following the outline of the butt and flared, projecting knop at the centre. 335 grams, 16 cm
Early 1990s London collection. Acquired on the UK art market. From a private collection, Lancashire, UK.
The axe belongs to subtype H2.J.b of the Gernez classification. These axes are characterised by decoration often executed with remarkable care and technical skill. The enlargement and indentation of the back of the collar varies, whilst the shape of the blade is, by contrast, standardised, with divergent rectilinear edges and a straight cutting edge or, more rarely, a rounded cutting edge, as in the example offered here. -
Luristan Mixed Blade Group
2nd-1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £169
A mixed group of bronze bladed weapons including arrowheads; dagger believed to be a reproduction. 374 grams total, 11.4-26.5 cm
Acquired 1970s-1990s. Ex Rabi Gallery, Mayfair, London, U.K. From a specialist collection of pottery.