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LOT 1352
Heavy Western Asiatic Bronze Axehead
LATE 3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
5 3/4 in. (741 grams, 14.5 cm).
With swept blade, large socket with shallow raised circumferential rib and a vertical rib to the rear.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
For similar examples of axes see Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003), pl.XX, no.44 (Mundigak, layer III, third quarter of the 3rd millennium B.C.).
FootnotesIn the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C., the most widespread types of axes were those made for splitting and those for cutting. In the last third of this millennium there emerged a sharp differentiation between such axes. Such a sharp division by function should be associated with the influence of the Syro-Palestinian tradition. Such differentiation, in the absence of some multifunctional forms, can be observed from the end of the 4th millennium B.C. and during the 3rd millennium B.C.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1352
Heavy Western Asiatic Bronze Axehead
Estimate £100 - 140€120 - 160 (for guidance only)$140 - 190 (for guidance only)
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Canaanite Bronze Dirk
13th-12th century B.C.Estimate: £400 - 600 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
With lentoid-section blade, tongue-shaped in plan, integral tapering hilt with flared finial, lateral flanges to accept a panel of bone or wood to each face forming the grip. 174 grams, 34 cm
Ex Joseph J. Gancie (1923-2010), Washington, Silver Spring, Maryland. with Alex Cooper Auctioneers Inc., sale 1035, 27 January 2013, lot 162a.
The dirk belongs to the type III in the Medvedskaya classification, used in Near East from the 13th to the 6th century B.C. The type is the 32a of the Maxwell-Hyslop study. The Asiatic daggers of this type are confined to Syria and Persia, but Transcaucasia also provides an interesting analogy from Kalekent on the Baku peninsula, where a pointed straight-sided dagger blade has a flanged hilt with the whole of the side flanges bent over the centre. -
Indian Quatar Iron Dagger
18th-19th century A.D.Estimate: £1,000 - 1,400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £550
Comprising a broad blade tapering to an armour-piercing point, the steel side bars and balustered grips decorated with copper Koftgari work flowers and scrolls. 488 grams, 48 cm
General condition very good.
Property of a London gallery.
Unique to South Asia, the quatar or katar was a dagger that held at the crossbars with a clenched fist. The weapon was meant to be thrust into the opponent or prey from a close range. Rajput and Mughal royalty used this weapon to hunt tigers and even crocodiles to demonstrate their bravery and martial skill. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Tanged Spearhead
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
With long blade, shallow midrib, rectangular-section tang; engraved, reinforced shaft, and squared shoulders. 423 grams, 34.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
According to Gernez, this spear belongs to the group of tripartite spears with bulging biconcave ogival blade, a marked stop and tang, usually curved. The tomb KCG 14 of Carchemish, yielded a similar example, in association with spears and ceramic dated from the second half of the 3rd millennium. A very similar spear comes from a tomb at Tell Mozan. A larger example with a decoration of rings in relief on the stem belongs to the λ deposit of Byblos. Another spear, of similar form, presents a decoration of vertical lines on the stem. It was found in the tomb of the Lord of the Caprids at Ebla, making it the most recent in the series (around 1750 B.C.).
