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LOT 0316
Massive Late European Bronze Age Finely Ribbed Socketted Spearhead
CIRCA 10TH CENTURY B.C.
17 3/4 in. (449 grams, 45 cm).
Formed with an elongated leaf-shaped blade, the socket extending into the blade in the form of a tapered mid-rib with decorative raised central grooves.
ProvenanceAcquired from John Cummings, UK, in 1988.
Ex Lord Alistair McAlpine collection.
Cf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 1, London, 2002, pp.10-11, no.5, for similar spearhead.
FootnotesThis spear seems to have parallels to those found in the tombs of the 'sword bearers' of central-southern Europe, an aristocratic class of the Urn Fields civilisation who had its last period of splendour between 10th-9th centuries B.C. The weapons were deposited with various objects inside incineration graves, but the spears were often ritually damaged (see tomb 5 of the necropolis of Pontenuovo di Gazzo Veronese, broken into three parts). Our spear, in the upper part, seems to show traces of oxidation due to the fire of the funeral pyre, and probably came from a tomb.
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LOT 0316
Massive Late European Bronze Age Finely Ribbed Socketted Spearhead
Estimate £800 - 1,000€930 - 1,160 (for guidance only)$1,080 - 1,350 (for guidance only)
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Luristan Bronze Socketted Axehead
Circa 13th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Featuring an oval-shaped socket, straight upper edge and curved lower edge with slightly convex cutting edge. 1.2 kg, 14.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
Unadorned weapons, especially axes, adzes and picks, were made by Luristan craftsmen using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds, into which was inserted a core to form the socket for the shaft. Typically, the metallic composition consisted of a combination of arsenical bronze and copper, together with a small percentage of lead. -
Luristan Bronze Dagger
3rd millennium B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Composed of a leaf-shaped blade, central slightly raised midrib, separately casted hilt with crescentic guard, rivet hole and lozenge-shaped grip. 147 grams, 26.5 cm
Ex German collection, Cologne, 1980-1990s.
Early bronze daggers from Luristan and Elam had separate casted hilt. Some scholars suggest that arsenic bronze was used in their production, and the handle was separately cast and rivetted to the hilt. Most scholars (Moorey, Mahboubian, Slotta, Vatandust, Khorasani) agree on a 3rd millennium B.C. dating based on the decoration of the hilt. -
Greek Bronze Arrowhead Group
5th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Mainly comprising socketted arrowheads of triangular type, including at least one barbed and one tanged example. 213 grams total, 32-56 mm
Ex private collection, 1980s. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s.
