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Details

LOT 1620

North-Western Persian Bronze Short Sword with Spherical Pommel

LATE 2ND-EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C

18 3/4 in. (910 grams, 47.5 cm).

The hilt with flanged pommel, round grip with horizontal flange, crescentic guard, long foliate blade with rectangular-section mid-rib.

Provenance

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.

Literature

Cf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, items 33-34-35.

Footnotes

Moorey studied pommelled swords and attributed their production to north-western Iran, dating them to the end of the 2nd millennium B.C. Dimensions of these swords varied from circa 49 cm (Khorasani, 2006, p.395) to 74 cm (sword in the Ashmolean Museum). While the blade belongs to the usual typology, like the penannular guard, the fashion of the pommel is unusual.

CONDITION

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LOT 1620

North-Western Persian Bronze Short Sword with Spherical Pommel

Sold for (Inc. bp): £247

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