Luristan Bronze Tanged Chisel

With heavily ridged and tapered blade, short collared shaft and tapered bent tang with round stud terminal. 247 grams, 28.5 cm



Acquired in Europe in 1997. European private collection.

The hilt with mushroom-shaped pommel, round grip, crescentic guard, long sloping blade with rectangular sectioned mid-ridge. 1.04 kg, 56.5 cm



Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s.

This category of swords has been classified by Khorasani as 'swords with a mushroom pommel' and are usually characterised by a solid-cast hilt with a penannular guard, a ribbed or variously decorated grip and the conical hollow-cast mushroom pommel. Usually the blade is multi-fullered and tapers to a sharp tip. Moorey considers them to be from the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.

Comprising a double-edged blade with pointed tip, battle nicks to both cutting edges; short bronze guard and a long tang; accompanied by a facetted rock crystal hilt pendant with a granulated gold mount above, set with a garnet cabochon; Eastern Roman or Alano-Gothic. 750 grams, 4-91.5 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12041-216428.

A characteristic type of the Migration period, originally used by nomadic people such as the Alans and Sarmatians. An important element of these swords was the presence (in tombs) of amber or rock crystal fittings, which some authors have identified being part of the pommel (Zasetskaya), and others as pendants hanging from the hilt of the sword. Interestingly the sword of grave 9 from the Necropolis of Novohryhorivka is decorated with a similar pendant, made of amber and fitted with a silver mount decorated with a filigree border.