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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.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.
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.
FootnotesMoorey 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.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1620
North-Western Persian Bronze Short Sword with Spherical Pommel
Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
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Luristan Bronze Dagger
14th-10th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
A short dagger with slender triangular blade, low round shallow midrib with flat upper face, annular guard and round shoulders, columnar grip with open sides to receive organic hilt, crescent pommel. 154 grams, 34 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.
Moorey, Gordon and Khorasani created a classification of bladed weapons, according to which daggers are edged weapons no greater than 36cm in length, dirks (short swords) are between 36cm and 50cm in length, and swords are edged weapons greater than 50cm in length. -
Byzantine Iron Horse Bit
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
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
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 lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
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 the 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. -
Medieval Iron Anti-Cavalry Caltrop Group
13th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Each hand-forged with square-section spikes, designed so that however the item falls, one spike is always vertical. 240 grams total, 74-95 mm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
