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LOT 1064
North-West Persian Bronze Sword Blade
EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
17 3/4 in. (370 grams, 45 cm).
Narrow triangular blade with raised median panel, scooped shoulders and short tang with pierced bulb finial.
ProvenanceEx German collection, Cologne, 1980-1990s.
LiteratureCf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 1, London, 2002, p.34, no.31.
FootnotesThe hilt of this magnificent sword would have originally been made of organic material. The forms of hilt are often replicated on cast metal counterparts. As proved by excavations of sites like Sangtarashan, stones were often used for decorating metal weapons, especially for bronze dagger pommels.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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Byzantine Bronze Archer's Thumb Ring
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Comprising a tapering hoop and triangular plaque, three bands of incised ornament. 9.59 grams, 27.27 mm overall, 21.60 mm internal diameter (approximate size British X 1/2, USA 11 3/4, Europe 26.92, Japan 25)
Acquired by the vendor's father on the UK art market, before 1990. -
Post Medieval Iron Pike Collection
16th-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Comprising three weapons: a 'ronca contadina' (peasant scythed staff weapon, known as forest bill) made of trunco-conical tubular gorbia with tapering iron shaft, inclined to the right with respect to the axis of the weapon, ending in a bill; an alabarda-sergentina, iron blade halberd with central rib, two axe-heads, one convex one concave; an alghiero, guisarme with tapering pointed iron shaft of rectangular section, furnished with a side-bill; all three mounted upon wooden velvet-covered shafts. 6.3 kg total, 2.26-2.34 m
Ex Christie's, Holland, circa 2010. East Anglian private collection.
Certainly the most interesting of the three weapons is the peasant roncone. The hooked part of the weapon could be used to hook or cut things, but also for severing a horse's hocks causing both horse and rider to fall. -
Byzantine Iron Horse Bit
14th-16th century A.D.Estimate: £250 - 350 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £135
Composed of arched openwork shanks with looped terminals; one end fitted with large hoops and bar between; one end with a tripartite mouthpiece comprising two collared bars connected by a central hoop; Byzantine or early Ottoman. 340 grams, 19.5 cm
Fine condition.
Collection of Dr. Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke (1928-2017), author of ‘Schmuck Aus Drei Jahrtausenden’ and who became the director of the Museum of Klingenmuseum in Solingen, Germany, in 1968; the collection was formed in the early 1960s. From an important private Dutch collection.
This type of horse bit is visible on one of the most important equestrian artworks of the 15th century - the Cappella dei Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli, a painting representing the Three Kings visiting Christ, depicted in costumes belonging to the early quarter of 15th century. All the cavalrymen in the artwork had heavy curb-bits (with short and curved shanks, as in our specimen) and heavy, single reins.
