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Luristan Bronze Sword Blade with Corrugation Luristan Bronze Sword Blade with Corrugation Luristan Bronze Sword Blade with Corrugation
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Details

LOT 1474

Luristan Bronze Sword Blade with Corrugation

2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

13 3/4 in. (296 grams, 35 cm).

A two-edged blade, leaf-shaped with short rectangular tang, corrugated midrib extending almost to the tip and flared at the shoulder. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Property of an East Sussex, UK, teacher; formerly with a London gallery; previously acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

See Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, s.cat 31, for type.

Footnotes

The metalworking techniques used in making bronze weapons in Luristan were very complex. Surfaces were often finished in repoussé work, and some of the weapons were chased, others engraved. The ruling elites of warrior horsemen were buried in the graves with their weapons and horses which are the main sources of the Luristan bronze weapons.

CONDITION
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LOT 1474

Luristan Bronze Sword Blade with Corrugation

Sold for (Inc. bp): £98

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