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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.
Provenancewith John Hewitt.
Ex Maurice Braham, acquired from the above.
Lord Alistair McAlpine collection.
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.
FootnotesThe 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.
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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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Western Asiatic 'Crescentic' Axehead
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
A bronze axehead with slender tubular socket, horizontal upper cheek and curved lower one, scooped profile to blade with convex cutting edge. 330 grams, 12.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Luristan Arrowhead Group
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
A group of six bronze arrowheads with deltoid form, a sharp barbed blade and prominent midrib extending to a long tang. 52 grams total, 4.3-10.9 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
A number of arrowheads of this type have been excavated from the Northern Iranian Plateau, in Luristan and in the South-Caspian region. Many parallels have a burial provenance, but a large hoard of them was found in a non-funerary context. This type of arrowhead has been in use from the 2nd millennium B.C. Godard claimed that barbed types of heads came from tombs from Luristan, like the ones found in Tang-i-Hamamlan. -
Eastern European Silver Inlaid War-Hammer
16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £598
A copper-alloy war-hammer composed of ellipsoidal socket, waisted butt with shallow conical face and tapering, lozenge-section head, inlaid with a silver 'net' design. 453 grams, 18.5 cm
Private collection of Mr M.B., Mainz, Germany, 1990s. Property of a London businessman. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11203-186235.
The name obuch is Polish and means 'the blind end of an axe', but already at the beginning of the 15th century it meant a [unspecified] war hammer. According to Polish sources of 17th century, the war-hammer could have been formed into the shape of an axe (czekan), or in the form of a thick, slightly sloping spike (nadziak), or curved like a round cracknel (obuch). A 17th century description states: 'It was a terrible instrument in the hand of a Pole...With the sabre one could cut off somebody’s hand, cut the face, injure the head, and the running blood of the adversary would calm down the rancour. But with the obuch one could cause a deadly wound without even seeing the blood, and – not seeing it – he would not calm down instantly, but would strike several times without cutting the skin, breaking ribs and bones at the same time.'
