Luristan Bronze Sword Blade

1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

18 in. (445 grams, 45.5 cm).

Comprising a narrow leaf-shaped blade with midrib and lateral channels, rounded shoulders, short tang with attachment hole.

Provenance

Ex German collection, Cologne, formed 1980s-1990.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.

Literature

Cf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 2, London, 2004, item 36, p.33.

Footnotes

The metalworking techniques used in making bronze weapons in early Iran were very complex. Surfaces were often finished in repoussé work, and some of the weapons were chased, others engraved. The function of the ridges here was not only decorative, however, but principally to reduce suction and thus allow the blade to be withdrawn speedily. The ruling elites of warrior horsemen were buried in the graves with their weapons and horses which are the main sources of the Luristan and North-Western bronze weapons.

CONDITION

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LOT 1117