Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 1023
North-West Persian Bronze Short Sword with Blood Channels
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
17 3/8 in. (439 grams, 44.2 cm).
Shaped as a two-edged bronze blade, leaf-shape with short rectangular tang with fastening hole, corrugated midrib extending almost to the tip and flared at the shoulder.
Provenance
Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Literature
See Christie's, Axel Guttmann collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, Part 1, London, South Kensington, Wednesday 6 November 2002, for similar swords with preserved pommel (lot 24) and without (lot 31).
Footnotes
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 and others engraved. Many of the graves dating from the era of Kassite hegemony contain bronze and iron artefacts, including various type of weapons. These swords with shallow fullers tapering to a sharp tip have been dated by P.R.S. Moorey to the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 1023
North-West Persian Bronze Short Sword with Blood Channels
Estimate £300 - 400€350 - 460 (for guidance only)$410 - 540 (for guidance only)
RELATED LOTS
-
Roman Praetorian Guard Terracotta Sling Shot with Scorpion
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Lentoid section with a raised 'keel' to one end, depicting a stylised scorpion. 25.75 grams, 43 mm
Ex Simmons Gallery, London E11, UK, in the 1990s. From a North London collection.
The sling (funda) with its lead (plumbea pondera) and stone missiles was used by special funditores, illustrated on Trajan’s Column where they are dressed in broad tunics with no armour, but carry a shield. Interestingly, this glans has the emblem usually associated with the Praetorian Guard - the scorpion. It was an emblem also used in Ptolemaic Egypt, and it is not impossible that this bullet could be Ptolemaic or Romano-Egyptian. We believe this bullet could be associated with the Praetorian regiments which means this could be one of the first pieces of evidence for their use. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Group
10th-9th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Comprising mainly tanged arrowheads, the most of them having large elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, cylindrical or squared stem for the shaft, barbed shoulders and convex sides; others with lanceolate head and rounded shoulders with long tang and foliate-section. 103 grams total, 29-68 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The most of these arrowheads, having a lozenge-section midrib with thin blades filed sharp at the edges, are typical of the early Iron Age in Luristan. These arrowheads seem to belong to the type V, subcategory types A, C and D 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. Subtype A is substantially similar to C, but smaller. Similar arrowheads are also visible in the Western Iberian and Balkan cultures in the Early Iron Age. -
Medieval Iron Crossbow Bolt Group
Circa 12th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Mainly comprising socketted bolts with tapering a facetted square-section tips. 798 grams total, 5.7-10 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
