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LOT 0291
Elamite Copper Axehead with 'Human' Face
2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
3 3/4 in. (246 grams, 94 mm).
With crescentic blade and rounded knot at the butt, ornamental curved edging to the upper shaft hole, a cord edge on the upper and lower shaft hole, incised band around the edge of the blade; the butt inversed, forming a bearded human face.
Provenancewith a London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s.
LiteratureCf. Mahboubian, H., Art of Ancient Iran, copper and bronze, London, 1997, p.166, fig.172b, for identical type; Gernez, G., L’armament en métal au Proche et Moyen-Orient: des origines a 1750 av. J.C., Paris, 2007, p.146, fig.2.14, subtype H2.H.a.
FootnotesThe type corresponds to Gernez type H.2.H.a, axes with collar and short sleeve lined with mouldings, fan-shaped blade and rear knot. It was a variant only known in Elam and Luristan. In Luristan one identical specimen was found at Chigha Sabz (grave M7). In Elam, the majority of these axes were found in the Middle-Bronze Age (Age of Isin-Larsa or Early Babylonian Age) tombs of Sarcophagi, at Susa.
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