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LOT 1447
Luristan Bronze Socketted Axehead
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
5 1/8 in. (232 grams, 13.1 cm).
Trapezoidal blade and a cylindrical socket with a collared base, lateral horizontal rib to each face, lobe to the rear; the blade long and with a slightly convex blunt edge. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx Norri collection, Milton Keynes, UK, 1980s-1990s.
LiteratureCf. Mahboubian, H., Art of Ancient Iran, copper and bronze, London, 1997, p.166, fig.172b, for similar.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Piriform in profile with domed mouth and stepped neck, raised vertical lugs on the body, linear decoration; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 464 grams, 14 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards.
Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Bactrian Bronze Axehead
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £350 - 450 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £175
With curved flaring cutting edge, characteristic curving shape and narrow socket, blade end squaring off, shaft hole pierced on both sides. 227 grams, 10.6 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.
These collared axes have the specific feature of being equipped with variously shaped rear extensions. The provenance of this typology is clearer than others: these axes came from Margiana and southern Bactria. Gonur Depe and Susa yielded a rather atypical and probably imported example. P. Amiet suggests that they were an adoption of Elamite material, from conceptual and institutional models. They would have developed from the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C. -
Saxon Iron Single-Edged Seax Sword Blade
7th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Of Wheeler's Type I with point at the median line, broad with thick back and wide, flat tang for a whittle-tang hilt assemblage; incised lines to both faces following the profile of the back and cutting edge. 610 grams, 50 cm
Private collection, UK.
