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LOT 0247
Iron Age Celtic La Tene III Sword
1ST CENTURY B.C.
34 1/4 in. (1.5 kg total, 87 cm).
Accompanied by a scabbard with fragments of the slider; the sword with lentoid-section two-edged iron blade, tapering gently to a broad point; slightly bent square-section tang; the fragments of the scabbard show a broad, slender sheath with stepped lower end, the obverse face rolled over the edges to clasp the reverse plate; the suspension elements comprising a fragment of the transverse bars clasping the front and back plates connected to vertical flared straps with a stepped slider-loop to the centre, once framed by two more similar bars with vertical straps forming a hollow square in which the slider-loop sits; mounted on a wall display mount.
ProvenancePrivate collection, Munich, Germany, 1970s.
Private collection, London, UK, 2014, acquired from the above.
Cf. similar specimens in Tasic, N., Scordisci, and the native population in the Middle Danube Region, Belgrade, 1992, nos.56-59, and especially no.59.
FootnotesCeltic swords of this period were longer, reaching one meter in length, with the tip having the tendency to be rounded, while the scabbards were less decorated or more simply ornamented than the swords of the previous period.
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AUCTIONS:
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Victorian Police Truncheon
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Composed of a tapering wooden blunt-tipped shaft, waisted grip with raised ribs and 'button' terminal. 309 grams, 43 cm
The Kusmirek Collection, UK. -
Medieval Iron Anti-Cavalry Caltrop Group
13th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Comprising eight caltrops, hand-forged with square-section spikes. 250 grams total, 79-84 mm
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector.
Caltrops were scattered on battlefields in an effort to stop or slow advancing enemy cavalry or foot soldiers; regardless of how a caltrop lands, one spike is always facing upwards. -
Marlik Bronze Short Sword with Crescentic Pommel
14th-10th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Formed with a slender triangular blade, raised midrib with flat upper face, penannular guard and scooped shoulders, columnar grip with two gusseted hoops, the upper half of the grip is decorated with vertical lines, the lower part with horizontal grooves, crescent pommel; short sword or dagger. 430 grams, 44 cm
Ex Alexander Cotton collection, Hampshire, UK 1980s.
This short sword or dagger belongs to the category of blades with pennanular guard, with hilt and guard cast in one piece with the grip. This solid weapon has separate sets of encircling ribs on the grip. Negahban excavated similar weapons from the Marlik cemeteries, although sometimes the type combines grip and penannular guard with flanged hilts open to accept inlays.
