Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 0293
Elamite Sar-e-Gorz Spiked Bronze Macehead
LATE 2ND-EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
7 1/8 in. (443 grams total, 18 cm including stand).
With three adjoining bull heads in high-relief to the top, with three ears and three horns serving all three heads; the horns curving towards the rim of the closed top; the shaft adorned with vertical rows of pointed spikes; hollow socket tube with ring collar at the base; mounted on a collector base.
Provenance
London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s.
Private collection, London.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11997-22061.
Literature
Cf. Mahboubian, H., Art of Ancient Iran, Copper and Bronze, London, 1997, fig.175, p.168, for a very similar type; see also Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron, Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, no.394, again for similar typology; Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, for discussion on the maces and for a sceptre with similar head from Elam (plate XXXI, no.85).
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Saxon Sacrificed Iron Spatha with Bronze Chape
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Double-edged long sword (spatha) of type Osterburken-Kemathen; the blade with squared shoulders, broken into two parts for sacrificial reasons, tapering towards the point; sturdy tang partially preserved; wooden traces of the scabbard and hilt still visible; accompanied by a bronze outer rim of a scabbard; restored. 630 grams total, 78 cm long
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
The deliberate fragmentation of a sword, often into three pieces, was a symbolic act of ‘killing’ the weapon, which was then placed as a grave good or offered in a ceremonial context. This was a Germanic custom already visible in the Vandal Przeworsk culture around the 3rd or 4th century A.D., which continued in Northern European areas until the 5th and the 6th centuries A.D. -
Medieval Knight's Iron Hand-and-a-Half Sword with Icosikaidigon Pommel
Europe, 14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £8,450
Longsword of Oakeshott's Type XVIII b, cross style 11, pommel style I1, with a strongly tapering pointed blade with a shallow ‘flattened diamond’ cross-section without fullers; the edges straight and tapering without curving to the point; guard characterised by a well-defined cross-guard with knobbed ends, long grip slightly tapering towards the facetted pommel. 1.43 kg, 114.5 cm
From the private family collection of a lady, UK; acquired in Germany, mid 20th century. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no. 13035-248000. -
North Western Persian Bronze Blade
Early 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
With a long tapering blade, rounded shoulders, broad flattened mid-rib, and a tapering square-section tang. 311 grams, 37.7 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
Edged weapons with tangs are among the simplest forms of weapons from this culture. This basic type was hardly altered in the period when bronze was the most important material in weapon production. The retention of this basic type with so few alterations makes precise dating challenging. Bronze daggers, dirks and swords exist today only as bronze blades, having lost their perishable handles over the course of time.
