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LOT 1434
Large Mahogany Telescope with Brass Fittings
19TH CENTURY A.D.
21 5/8 in. (1.05 kg, 55 cm).
Large wooden barrel with brass eyepiece and inner tube, marked in copperplate script 'T.Harris & Son, London / Day or Night'. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the private collection of author and historian Dr DeWitt Bailey, one of the global authorities on the confederate army in the US civil war; thence by descent to his grandson.
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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Indian Gold Dagger Scabbard Suite
17th-18th century A.D.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,250
Belonging to a dagger and its scabbard, comprising: a tubular pommel cap with filigree ropework, repoussé floral motifs; an elliptical-section scabbard throat with billetted border, reeded edges and floral motif; a triangular chape with reeded strip to the mouth. 27 grams total, 29-64 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £110
Triangular in profile with rounded shoulders and thick square-section mid-rib running to the tip; short flared neck and square-section tang. 331 grams, 42.3 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.
