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LOT 1361
Luristan Bronze Dirk
CIRCA 1000 B.C.
15 3/8 in. (231 grams, 39 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. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
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.
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Lead Musket Ball Collection
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Group of ninty-nine lead musket and pistol balls. 2.08 kg total, 12-18 mm
UK gallery, early 2000s. -
Bronze Age Socketted Spearhead
Circa 19th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
With foliate blade and tapering socket. 183 grams, 25.6 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The bronze spearhead developed considerably during the period of the Assyrian colonies in Anatolia and even during the period Karum III-IV, maintaining consistently its southern shape. Conical points are also known from Bogazkoy's Karum levels. While spearheads from the first half of the 2nd millennium B.C. were hafted by means of a tang, with two slots in the blade providing additional support, most of the Late Bronze Age spearheads were socketted. -
Large Luristan Bronze Socketted Axe-Adze
13th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
With tapering socket and flared rim to the mouth, vertical axe-blade with curved cutting edge, horizontal adze blade of similar proportions. 1.14 kg, 24 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The earliest axe-adzes from the 3rd millennium B.C. were weapons and tools furnished with socketted holes. Usually the socket is a more secure way of attaching the object to a wooden haft than having a tang. These weapons developed into a range of different forms in the 2nd millennium B.C., which were used until at least 800 B.C.