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Details

LOT 0223

Luristan Sword with Blood Channels

LATE 2ND-EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

16 1/2 in. (295 grams, 42 cm).

A tanged bronze sword of triangular shape with multiple fullers tapering to a pointed tip, the tang forming an extension of the thick ridged midrib.

Provenance

with John Hewitt.
Ex Maurice Braham, acquired from the above.
Lord Alistair McAlpine collection.

Literature

Cf. Moorey, P.R.S., Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1971, p.78, no.57, for similar; see also Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 1, London, 2002, p.26, no.24.

Footnotes

The blade belongs to a sword probably made in a Luristan workshop, once fitted with a conical pommel and a crescentic guard. 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.

CONDITION

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LOT 0223

Luristan Sword with Blood Channels

Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)

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