Luristan Bronze Mace Head

EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.

7 5/8 in. (357 grams, 19.3 cm).

Comprising a long cylindrical shaft with narrow flanged base, the upper section with three vertical relief panels decorated by round spikes alternated with wavy pattern, divided and bordered by two parallel ridges, similar band with three ridged horizontal grooves at the top and around the base.

Provenance

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Literature

See Godard, A., Les Bronzes du Luristan, Paris, 1931, pl.XIX, no.58, for a similar mace; see also Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 1, London, 2002, p.24, nos.18-19; Khorasani, M. M., 'Bronze and iron weapons from Luristan' in Antiguo Oriente: Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente, 7, 2009, fig.8.

Footnotes

This gorz mace head belongs to the category of truncheon-shaped mace-heads, a type developed on the Iranian plateau during the Bronze Age, used by Elamite and Luristan warriors since the 3rd millennium B.C. This category of objects was also interpreted as a part of a shaft, but most scholars agree on the interpretation of use as a mace.

CONDITION

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LOT 1350