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LOT 1761
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
1200-1100 B.C.
15 3/4 in. (830 grams, 40 cm).
With an ovate blade, central rib and curved shoulders, the lozenge-section long shaft tapering towards the end, a rectangular tang with a bent tip.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
LiteratureCf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, item 291, p.636.
FootnotesThe spearhead represents a slender variant of type 1 of the Khorasani classification. The type 1 was characterised by a bent tang. It was the evolution of a typology which began much earlier in Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the type 4 of the Stronach classification, with a straight tang and square section, usually thickened at the base with a button tang.
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Circa 3000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Rectangular in section with incuse design to each face: running feline; crouching figure with arms spread; rearing quadruped; advancing figure in tall headdress; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 3.66 grams, 18.16 mm
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Western Asiatic Stone Stamp Seal with Mating Animals
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Assyrian Double-Faced Pendant Depicting Pazuzu, King of Wind Demons
8th-6th century B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
Carved in the round with flared base, addorsed faces of the demon with suspension lug above. 50.24 grams, 44 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London, UK.
The figure described as the 'King of Wind Demons' is commonly identified with Pazuzu, a well-known demon in Assyrian and Babylonian tradition. Despite his fearsome appearance, often shown with a canine face, bulging eyes, a scaly body, and wings, Pazuzu was not simply a malevolent force. He was understood as the ruler of the winds, particularly the hot, destructive winds from the desert, but was also invoked for protection. Most notably, Pazuzu was believed to ward off the demon Lamashtu, who threatened pregnant women and infants. Small amulets and pendants bearing his image were therefore worn or placed in domestic spaces as protective devices. Objects such as this pendant belong to that world of everyday belief, where the boundary between danger and protection was fluid, and where even a demon could serve an apotropaic role.
