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LOT 0290
Elamite Copper Axehead with 'Animal' Face
LATE 3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
3 in. (206 grams, 78 mm).
Plain cylindrical shaft, bulbous towards the top with an incised animal face to the rear of the shaft, the blade with a convex cutting edge.
Provenancewith a London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s.
LiteratureCf. Mahboubian, H., Art of Ancient Iran, copper and bronze, London, 1997, p.170, fig.178b, for similar type; Gernez, G., L’armament en métal au Proche et Moyen-Orient: des origines a 1750 av. J.C., Paris, 2007, p.124, fig.2.6, subtype H2.B.b.
FootnotesThe type belongs to the Gernez classification of collared axes, with trapezoidal blade and cylindrical sleeve. This set of fairly standardised axes is characterised by a trapezoidal blade, a cylindrical collar with a clear moulding at its base and a marked angular moulding at its top, extending onto the top of the blade. This basic model is exclusively from Susa.
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Old Babylonian Bronze Arrowhead Collection
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Comprising paddle-shaped arrowheads with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib. 171 grams total, 53-78 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
These kind of arrowheads were typical of the Old Babylonian Empire. The shoulders were pronounced and the arrowhead had a rectangular-section tapering tang. This simple form was popular throughout and show comparative common finds in the Bible Lands. -
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Two with a sturdy square-section tang, narrow barbed head with midrib; the others with triangular or foliate blades; each with a raised midrib and a short tang. 212 grams total, 10.1-16.2 cm
Ex London collection, formed 1990-2000.
Although some of them are different in shape, these arrowheads are apparently related types of a polythetic group. Two basic deltoid forms are represented: one has a sharp, flat blade, the ends of which extend to form wings or barbs, and a prominent midrib extending into a long tang that often has a stop; the blade shape varies from deltoid to more manifestly triangular. The other form has no barbs, but it has a prominent midrib extending to the tang, and a narrow leaf-shaped blade. -
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