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LOT 0297
Luristan Bronze Sword
14TH-10TH CENTURY B.C.
22 in. (684 grams, 56 cm).
Of type II with crescentic pommel, the grip with V-shaped collar and penannular guard, blade with a broad, raised midrib.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1988.
LiteratureSee Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran - The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, pp.398ff, nos.39, 41-43, for the types of pommels; for the penannular guard and blade see Godard, A., Les Bronzes du Luristan, Paris, 1931, pl.VII, no.15.
FootnotesThe crescentic pommel and the penannular guard were probably cast in a one piece-mould. These kinds of pommels are typical of the iron swords of type 2 from Luristan. A certain number of Luristan daggers and swords have bronze or iron blades with cast-on bronze hilts. The typology of winged pommel bronze grip is visible on examples in the British Museum and the National Museum of Iran.
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