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LOT 1395
Greek Lead Slingshot
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/4 in. (32.8 grams, 30 mm).
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved legend 'ΦIΛONOC = of Philon (name)'; scorpion on the other side. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market before 2000.
Private collection, Munich, Germany.
Cf. Manov, M., Torbov, N., 'Inscribed Lead Sling Bullets with the name of Alexander the Great and with other names and symbols found in Thrace' in Archaeologia Bulgarica, XX, 2, pp.29-43, fig.23, for similar.
FootnotesOn these sling bullets the image of a scorpion could be understood to depict an action ‘sting like a scorpion’. The name of Filon can be connected with a military commander.
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AUCTIONS:
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Luristan Bronze Socketted Spearhead
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Comprising a lentoid-section, leaf-shaped blade with tapering socket. 285 grams, 38 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1990s. -
Saxon Sacrificed Iron Spatha with Bronze Chape
5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
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. -
Western Asiatic Integral Hilted Bronze Short Sword
Late 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With a broad, lentoid-section flat blade, rounded tip, sloping sides, well marked shoulders with wide but short tang. 713 grams, 43.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The sword finds similarity with a one from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. This is the most primitive form of dagger, consisting of a simple, pointed blade having slightly convex outline shoulders sloping to a short tang which has no rivets, and was probably hafted to wood with bitumen.
