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LOT 1508
Luristan Bronze Dagger
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
12 in. (151 grams, 30.5 cm).
Blade with a shallow median rib, crescentic pennannular guard, handle with pommel in the shape of a nail head.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
LiteratureSee Godard, A., Les Bronzes du Luristan, Paris, 1931, pl.VII, no.14, for a similar dagger.
FootnotesThis is a type of blade rare among Luristan weapons. The simplest type that appeared to J. de Morgan and Godard in the first excavations of Luristan looked like this: a blade always featuring a median groove, a guard decorated with a crescent, and a round hilt with a nail-shaped head. The hilt was usually filled with organic material, such as wood, bone, or ivory.
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Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Comprising tanged arrowheads, four with large elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, one triangular type with barbed shoulders and flat socket, one with barbed shoulders and cylindrical stem with handle for the shaft; four with squared shoulders and rectangular stem with handle for the shaft, one with trilobate blade, two with barbed shoulder and flat tang, one with short pyramidal head and cylindrical stem, and another with short tang and long blade with raised midrib. 384 grams total, 5.8-15.7 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s.
These arrowheads seem to belong to the type V, subcategory types A, B, C and D according to the classification of Khorasani and Negahban. In the four categories of triangular bronze arrowheads from Luristan, Marlik, and Northern Iran, individuated by Negahban, subtypes C and D of type V are larger arrow or javelin heads, C with barbed shoulders and D with round shoulders. Most of them were cast in moulds. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Including barbed-and-tanged, spade-shaped and other types. 319 grams total, 7.4-18 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s. -
North-Western Persian Bronze Sword Blade
11h-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
With a prominently curved guard extending out from the ricasso, partly framing the hilt, thick midrib extending slightly above the ricasso. 286 grams, 35.5 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
The hilt of such swords was made separately and, unfortunately, is nearly always missing from the archaeological records. Similar daggers had a northern Iranian background, and excavated examples have been recorded from the South Caspian area from Tomadjan and Ghalekuti. Their chronology ranges from the late 2nd millennium B.C. to the 7th century B.C.