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LOT 1177
Luristan Bronze Butted Axe
3RD-2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
6 7/8 in. (375 grams, 17.5 cm).
The cylindrical shaft decorated with three bosses, blade with diverging edges, the upper sides of the hole and part of the blade decorated with a dotted pattern.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003) in Russian, pl.XIX, no.38, from Assur.
FootnotesThe earliest Luristan bronze weapons, particularly daggers, axes, and adzes, share many similarities in form with Mesopotamian artefacts of the 3rd millennium BC. The unadorned weapons, especially the axes, adzes and picks, were made using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds with
a core inserted into them to form the socket for the shaft.
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Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Each a scrolled bar with gently carinated upper face, formed as serpents or other animals with stylised geometric detailing; attachment perforations to one terminal. 16.5 grams total, 65 mm each
Acquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.
In the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D., the Celtic fastening system of the ring mail armour (gallica, lorica ferro aspera) became the standard in the Imperial Roman army, with a pivot attached to the breast and hinged to the edges of the humeralia (shoulder guards). The chest fastener had various different designs. The double hooks, S-shaped and usually with snake-head terminals, were secured by a central rivet on the chest. The system allowed excellent freedom of movement, giving greater protection to the shoulders and the arms. Similar fasteners for infantry mail have been found on the Kalkriese battlefield, some of them also decorated with niello and inscribed with the name of the soldier. -
Viking Age Iron Axehead
11th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Composed of a sub-circular socket, lozengiform flanges above and below, rectangular hammer-style butt and axe head with straight upper and curved lower edge, convex cutting edge. 729 grams, 17.8 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Luristan Arrowhead Collection
14th-10th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Comprising leaf-shaped and triangular, tanged and barbed arrowheads. 70 grams total, 9.1-12.4 cm
English private collection, acquired 1970s. The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
The arrowheads correspond to the classification of the arrowheads with elongated triangular shape with barbed shoulders and lanceolate head with rounded shoulders from the category type V, according to the studies of Khorasani and the excavations in Negahban.