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LOT 1441
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
16 3/4 in. (412 grams, 42.5 cm).
Having foliate blade with central rib and slender shoulders, short rectangular shaft and tang with a bent end.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Cf. Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron, ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, no.176, for the type.
FootnotesA number of similar blades, some considered to be spearheads and others to be daggers, all with bent tang, derived from Tepe Hissar Culture III. Some of them, like our specimen, have a button terminal, some others have a plain, pointed terminal. The general dating of these specimens is fixed to the early 2nd millennium B.C.
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LOT 1441
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
Estimate £100 - 140€120 - 160 (for guidance only)$140 - 190 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Bronze Spearhead
2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
With foliate blade, rhomboidal in section, raised mid-rib, medium length stem widening at its base and forming a small stop, rectangular-section tang with bent terminal. 595 grams, 41.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The specimen belongs to the category of tripartite spears with long pointed biconvex blade and single bevelled tang. They seem to be a Mesopotamian and Susian (Elamite) variant, and this type also includes decorated blades, like the spear from Tello with the inscription 'King of Kish'. Various specimens have been found in the layers of Tepe Hissar III site. -
Medieval Iron Bearded Axehead
Circa 14th-16th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £39
With broad curved blade and square chin, broad neck, deep socket with square-section hammer to the reverse. 766 grams, 13.2 cm
Ex North American collection, 1970s-1990s. -
Old Babylonian Bronze Duckbilled Axehead
Early 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With a curved, beak-shaped blade and two pierced eyes flanking a raised median ridge ellipsoid-section socket; repaired. 147 grams, 10.5 cm
From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; with collection no.BA27; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent.
This axe corresponds to the type H4B of the Gernez classification. Several of these models, with their moulds, are known from the Levant, like those in Byblos, Ras Shamra, and Tell Arqa. On the other hand, a workshop level II of the Kültepe karum delivered two moulds, showing a local production of arms intended either for export or for the inhabitants originating from Mesopotamia or the Levant. This sub-type of eye-axes is characteristic of the Middle Bronze Age 1 (2050-1750 B.C.).
