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LOT 1144
Marlik Bronze Arrowhead Group
12TH-10TH CENTURY B.C.
4 - 6 in. (106 grams total, 10.2-15.2 cm).
Comprising four tanged arrowheads, with large bronze elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, cylindrical stem with handle for the shaft; three with barbed shoulders and convex sides. [4]
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, figure 467, for the main type.
FootnotesSome of these arrowheads seem to belong to the type V, subcategory type C, according to the classification of Khorasani and Negahban. In the four categories of triangular bronze arrowheads from Luristan, Marlik and Northern Iran individuated by Negahban, subtypes C and D of type V are larger arrow or javelin heads, C with barbed shoulders and D with round shoulders.
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Achaemenid Bronze Arrowhead Group
6th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Comprising 29 shafted trilobate and pyramidal points, some with barbs. 108 grams total, 23-36 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The Persians used the bow to forge their empire. They would have used bronze or iron arrows of various types which varied in length from three to four centimetres. Many were trilobite in shape, varying from the simple triangular head, the leaf-shaped head or the triangular head with square-section, tang and directional plumes. The old types, created by the Luristan armourers, were still in use in the Achaemenid period. -
Very Large Viking Iron Battle Notched Axehead
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,184
Featuring an elongated triangular butt, flanged cylindrical socket, slender neck with broad, flaring cheeks; the blade, upper and lower edges notched. 1.36 kg, 28 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. -
Ghaznavid Iron Knife with Calligraphic Inlays
10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
Composed of a C-shaped socketted hilt and slender blade with single cutting edge slightly curved towards the tip; the outer face of the socket, the top edge and one side of the blade inlaid with gilt inscription, the other side of the blade displaying two gilt felines. 91 grams, 31.5 cm
London collection since the 1980s. Property of a Canadian family.
The gilding process used on the blade seems to be an exceptionally rare example of what was known in medieval Islamic literary sources as ‘gold water’. The blade seems to have been decorated with a Kufic inscription to three sides. It bears witness to the extraordinary sophistication of the metalworkers and jewellers of this period.
