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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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French Gras Model 1874 Rifle Bayonet
Dated 1876 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
A Gras bayonet with T-shaped tapering 'epee' blade fitted with steel perforated quillon, rivetted wood grip scales and brass pommel slotted to fit the rifle barrel key; various punchmarks and numbered '7233' to quillon, the back of the blade inscribed 'Usine de Stoyr 1876' in script. 581 grams, 64.5 cm
Good condition.
Acquired on the UK antiques market between 1974-1985. Albert Ward collection, Essex, UK. -
Heniochi Dagger with Beast Heads
4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
A short iron dagger with triangular blade, short straight guard surmounted by a bronze pommel characterised by twinned beast heads projecting from each side; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 170 grams, 28 cm (753 grams total, 39 cm high including stand)
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector.
The tribe of the Heniochs, according to Artemidorus of Ephesus, existed during the 5th-1st century B.C., on the Black Sea littoral that is part of present-day Abkhazia. Aristotle describes the Heniochi as a group of people "ready enough to kill and eat men." The dagger shows similarities with the pommel of a sword from Akhul Abaa grave 4 with twinned beast heads. These weapons of subtype I, according to the classification of Gamkrelidze-Shatberashvili-Pirtskhalava-Charkviani, were popular not only in Abkhazia, but throughout the territory of west Georgia during the 4th-1st century B.C. -
Western Asiatic Tripartite Spearhead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £102
A leaf-shaped blade with prominent midrib, square-section tang with expanding bent finial. 310 grams, 34 cm
Fine condition.
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.