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LOT 1844
Greek Lead Slingshot with Inscription
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
1 1/4 in. (32.7 grams, 31 mm).
Lenticular type with casting seam to the rim, raised 'AΓΟΡΟΥ' legend (genitive for Agouros = immature, unripe).
ProvenanceEx German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Cf. for similar bullets (different inscription) Tsaravopoulos, A., ‘Evidence of war in a Pirates’City of the Hellenistic Period (Island Antikythera/Aigilia Greece)’ in Sirbu, V., Schuster, C., Hortopan, D., Warriors and their weapons in bronze and iron ages, Proceedings of the 21st International Colloquium of Funerary Archaeology 25th-28th May, 2023, Târgu Jiu, Gorj County (Romania), Braila, 2023, pp.301-320, figs.15-18.
FootnotesSometimes the bullet carries a joke for the enemy. Here, the bullet bears the inscription ‘immature’, signifying that the enemy will receive not a nice fruit to eat, but an unripe fruit, a fruit he never wants to get.
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Luristan Bronze Short Sword with Crescent-Shaped Pommel
10th century B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
Comprising a triangular blade with integral ribbed handle and a crescentic pommel. 450 grams, 40 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
These kinds of bronze daggers or dirks, typical of Marlik culture, were cast in a one piece mould according to Negahban, although in some specimens the guard was later cast into the blade. The separate sets of encircling ribs on the grips are again typical of swords from the Marlik area. In our specimen the grip is opened on one side to receive organic filling.
