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LOT 0269
Iron Age Thracian Iron Machaira Sword with Chape
3RD CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
33 in. (1.34 kg total, 84 cm long).
Single-edged iron blade with sturdy back and slightly curved inner cutting edge; fixing pegs with rosette finials for a scale-tang hilt and ellipsoid pommel above with pierced upper face; scabbard chape with trumpet-shaped foot.
ProvenanceEx German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.
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 no.12495-230594.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Torbov, N., Antique Weapons, Plovdiv, 2016, pp.24-25, for similar examples; Webber, C., The Thracians, 700 BC-AD 46,, Oxford, 2001, p.38 for similar examples; Marazov, I., Thracian Warrior, Sofia, 2005, p.15, for similar machaira from Orlovo.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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North-Western Persian Bronze Short Sword with Spherical Pommel
Late 2nd-early 1st millennium B.CSold for (Inc. bp): £247
The hilt with flanged pommel, round grip with horizontal flange, crescentic guard, long foliate blade with rectangular-section mid-rib. 910 grams, 47.5 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.
Moorey studied pommelled swords and attributed their production to north-western Iran, dating them to the end of the 2nd millennium B.C. Dimensions of these swords varied from circa 49 cm (Khorasani, 2006, p.395) to 74 cm (sword in the Ashmolean Museum). While the blade belongs to the usual typology, like the penannular guard, the fashion of the pommel is unusual. -
Items of Irish Military and Services Interest
17th-20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Comprising: four musket balls from the banks of the river Foyle in Derry; six Royal Ulster Constabulary (obsolete) buttons; Royal Irish Constabulary cap and collar badges from the 1950s-1960s; three Royal Irish Constabulary rank badges; WWI London Irish Rifles cap badge. 162 grams total, 14-50 mm
Ex Irish collection, Germany. From a Leicestershire, UK, collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Luristan Bronze Dirk
13th-12th century B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
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. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
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.