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LOT 1098
Large Western Asiatic Socketted Bronze Axehead
LATE 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
7 1/2 in. (1.16 kg, 19.2 cm).
Composed of flared cheeks, convex cutting edge and lentoid-shaped socket with raised circumferential rib and butt, with a vertical rib to the rear.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003), pl.XXII, nos.30,39 (Artik and Nalchik, in Caucasus), for similar.
FootnotesIn the 2nd millennium B.C., in the Caucasus area, variants of axes with a curved horizontal blade and a tubular eye developed. The simplest variants of these types were borrowed through the north of Ciscaucasia by the inhabitants of the Eurasian steppes. In the steppes, war axes became, around the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C., the most powerful bronze weapons, spreading far to the east.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1098
Large Western Asiatic Socketted Bronze Axehead
Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
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Amarlu Bronze Dagger with Bell-shaped Pommel
Late 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
With solid cast hilt, straight horizontal guard with turquoise inlay; plain narrow grip with conical hollow cast mushroom pommel decorated with dots and lines; wide shallow midrib on the blade tapering to a sharp tip. 505 grams, 52 cm
Ex old English collection. London art market, pre 2000. Property of a London, UK, gentleman.
Moorey and Khorasani dated swords with mushroom pommels to the end of the second millennium B.C. The weapon belongs to Category IX of the Khorasani classification, the ones with a mushroom or bell-shaped pommel. A similar example is in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran. -
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Hellenistic Bronze Armour Section with Herakles Fighting Hydra
Circa 4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
Comprising an embossed fragment of a breast-plate from muscle-type armour (thorax statos) representing Herakles fighting against the Hydra of Lerna; three-quarters of the hero's body preserved showing him naked in a dynamic position, wearing a fluttering short cloak (chlamys), overlooking the body of the monster of which the long tail covered with scales and fins is visible; fragment of cloak preserved separately. 122 grams total, 3.4-17.5 cm
Good portion of armour, extremely rare
Acquired on the French art market before 2000. From an EU collection before 2020.
This kind of armour is very rare, especially for this period, when most of the attested armour is plain or only slightly decorated. The young Herakles appears in heroic nudity running to the right, but, as on the cheek-piece from Gurlo, his head was probably turned in the opposite direction. The plasticism of the scene finds a good match in the Thracian tradition of the representation of weapons and armour, and the embossed elements with the highly prized work of the Panagyurishte treasure. The warrior-theme and the representation of Herakles or other fighting scenes on the Thracian and Hellenistic armours was a reference to the spirit of the immortal fighter. -
Luristan Bronze Short Sword
Circa 1000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
The blade with a tapering profile, triangular in overall form, with slender shoulders, penannular guard with strong midrib, flanged hilt with crenellated grip, widening slightly into a fan-shaped pommel, cracked. 421 grams, 42 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
These types of short sword or dirks were usually cast in one piece, and the penannular rib in relief was cast on at the same time with the handle of the blade. In some cases, however, the penannular rib was later cast on the dagger, possibly to strengthen a weak point at the junction of hilt and blade. The flanged hilt was originally inlaid with organic material such as bone.
