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LOT 1106
Luristan Bronze Dirk
CIRCA 1000 B.C.
14 3/4 in. (264 grams, 37.5 cm).
Composed of a leaf-shaped blade with a raised penannular rib and slot below the shoulder connected to the grip with lateral flanges and integral pommel, recessed to accept an organic insert.
ProvenanceFrom an old English collection, formed in the 1980s.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
Cf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran - The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tuebingen, 2006, p.380, Cat.12, inventory no.655.
FootnotesThis dirk, cast in one piece mould, belongs to the daggers that Medvedskaya believes support the thesis that majority of them were cast in one piece. However, there are examples where the penannular grip was cast on later on the dagger or dirk.
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LOT 1106
Luristan Bronze Dirk
Estimate £400 - 800€460 - 930 (for guidance only)$540 - 1,080 (for guidance only)
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Medieval Decorated Bronze Macehead Group
14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Each with four large triangular-shaped projections flanked by smaller projections; decorated with groups of ring-and-dot ornaments. 155 grams total, 46 mm each
Private collection, UK, formed in the 1980s. The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
The polygonal mace evolved into the hexagonal winged mace. Originating in the East, this weapon spread across Eastern Europe during the 13th century A.D., and from there to the West. The winged mace, used by the western Europeans, was almost certainly based upon Eastern Roman or Islamic prototypes. It is relevant to note that the polygonal mace was widely used by the eastern cavalrymen (like Turkish and Mongols), during the 14th century A.D. -
Medieval Iron Single-Handed Sword
Late 13th-early 14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Of Oakeshott Type XII or XIII with a double-edged, well-balanced tapering blade, shallow fullers and a parallel-sided straight lower guard of cross style 2; medium tang and disc pommel of type K with chamfered sides; the blade with later inlaid markings, one side with Passau wolf, the other side with cross within a circle; cleaned and conserved. 1.39 kg, 95 cm
fine condition, restored.
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The sword’s blade presents analogies with a sword of type XIIIa (Aleksic, 2007, pl.7,1) sharing the same type of pommel and the same length of the fuller. The sword, found in the Danube near the village Visnjica, is now in the City Museum, Belgrad, and presents a cross and a wolf impressed on the blade and inlaid with a yellow metal. -
Luristan Bronze Sword Blade
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £60
Comprising a narrow leaf-shaped blade with midrib and lateral channels, rounded shoulders, short tang with attachment hole. 445 grams, 45.5 cm
Ex German collection, Cologne, formed 1980s-1990. The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
The metalworking techniques used in making bronze weapons in early Iran were very complex. Surfaces were often finished in repoussé work, and some of the weapons were chased, others engraved. The function of the ridges here was not only decorative, however, but principally to reduce suction and thus allow the blade to be withdrawn speedily. The ruling elites of warrior horsemen were buried in the graves with their weapons and horses which are the main sources of the Luristan and North-Western bronze weapons.
