Luristan Bronze Bulbous Macehead

Biconvex in profile and annular in plan with rounded edges to the socket. 1.66 kg, 16.8 cm



Private UK collection. Acquired in the 1980s. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman.

Substantial with leaf-shaped blade, lentoid in section and with rounded tip, rectangular-section tang; blade with nicked and chipped edge. 890 grams, 42 cm



Acquired on the UK art market before 2000. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.

Comprising a broad double-edged parallel-sided blade, flat-section at the upper third with a very shallow central fuller, elliptical-section at the lower end; flat guard with scooped lower edge, D-section arms horizontally S-curved; 'cat's head' type pommel, rectangular with scrolled upper edge and integral central boss to both faces; on the upper part of the blade an engraved three-armed workshop mark and two possibly later added brass inlaid marks including a cross fourchee inside and the image of a sword to one side; mounted on a wall display mount. 1.7 kg total, 1.11 m

In general good condition, point missing, blade structure with little delamination along the upper part, corrosion damages along the edges and on the surface, some material loss on the original surface.

Private collection, Munich, Germany, 1970s. Private collection, London, UK, 2014, acquired from the above.

The Schiavonesca sword was used by Dalmatian mercenaries serving in the Venetian state armies, and produced by the workshops of the Serenissima to which the marks probably belong. Many of these swords were produced in Dubrovnik, a Croatian city under Venetian rule. Oakeshott classified all the pommels of square shape in his Type Z. Certain morphological differences between them were individuated by Dr Aleksić as a criteria for distinguishing the distinct subtypes, in this case the type Z3 for the upper crenelleted edge. The cross-guards of type 12b, like in this case, have symmetrically and horizontally sharply bent arms in the opposite directions. The 'cat's head' pommel is also found on surviving examples of cross-hilted swords of the 14th century which can be traced into the hands of Slavonic soldiers stationed in southern Europe, employed in the European armies of this period. The independent representation of the cross fourchee usually inscribed in a circle is rather frequent on the swords with type 12 cross guards and type Z pommels from Hungary, Northern Balkans and the neighbouring regions (Aleksić, 2007, p.122).