Medieval Iron Macehead with Securing Nail

Tanged spearheads with foliate blades, one with accentuated midrib and bent tang, another with squared shoulders and bent tang, the third with slender blade and narrow tang with fastening hole. 342 grams total, 18.7-27 cm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Spearheads with large foliate blades and bent tangs were excavated in the Marlik Royal cemetery by Dr Negahban, see for example in tomb 47, Trench XXIIE. They were the evolution of a typology which began much earlier in Mesopotamia and the fertile crescent, the type 4 of the Stronach classification, with straight tang and square section, usually thickened at the base with a button tang. The foliate blade was wide and exaggerated in some specimens excavated at Marlik.

Comprising a swept curved edge, slender neck with faceting, bulb socket and small striking face to the butt; frieze of hatched serpentine necks and heads to each face of the blade, with reserved triangles; band of hatched chevrons to the neck, horizontal fluting to the socket; mounted on a custom-made stand. 806 grams total including stand, axehead: 18.8 cm



Franz Heger (1853-1931), Austrian traveller and ethnographer, acquired in the Caucasus during his 1890 expedition. Believed to have been gifted circa 1930 to Franz Hancar (1893-1968), noted scholar and expert in ancient Caucasian cultures. Thence by descent, acquired in the 1950s by Mr R.D., Vienna, Austria. Acquired from the above in 1998 by N.M., former Israeli Ambassador to Austria (1998-2000). Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12840-240720. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

During the latter half of the 2nd millennium B.C., one type of axe head dominated in the region of the Eastern European steppes. It had a narrow horizontal blade, a short blade and a tube-shaped handle. Examples have been found across the steppes of Eastern Europe from Transcaucasia. From the middle of the second millennium B.C., the spread of the type in the Eastern Steppes was connected with the movement of Iranian-speaking nomads, maybe the Tocharo-speaking tribes, who used two-wheeled horse-drawn war chariots.

With narrow blade and strong stepped central rib, curved shoulders, the round-section shaft with barleytwist detailing, rectangular tang with bent tip and button finial. 282 grams, 33 cm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.