Polish Iron Sabre

Comprising four tanged arrowheads, two with elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, cylindrical stem with handle for the shaft; one with barbed shoulders and convex sides; one with narrow and flattened blade and short tang; the javelin head with slightly rounded shoulders, lanceolate shape and flattened blade. 164 grams total, 13.1-17.8 cm



From London art market, acquired in 1990s. Ex C.J. Martin, London, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the Spanish export licence.

These types of arrowheads were commonly used in Anatolia and Mesopotamia from the 2nd millennium B.C., but it appears that their employment began earlier in this area, where types like these occur alongside the non-barbed, predominantly ribbed and tanged types.

Fan-shaped blade; an apotropaic eye in relief to each side of the socket; wing-shaped extension to the rear. 327 grams, 16 cm



From an old London, UK, collection. Ex London, UK, gallery.

Most of these axes are believed to have originated in Bactria, but some objects come from well documented contexts in Margiane (Gonur), Lut (Shahdad) and Kermanshah (Khinaman). According to Gernez they were made for ceremonial use.

Comprising a broad double-edged parallel-sided blade, flat-section at the upper third with a very shallow central fuller, elliptical-section at the lower end; flat guard with scooped lower edge, D-section arms horizontally S-curved; 'cat's head' type pommel, rectangular with scrolled upper edge and integral central boss to both faces; on the upper part of the blade an engraved three-armed workshop mark and two possibly later added brass inlaid marks including a cross fourchee inside and the image of a sword to one side; mounted on a wall display mount. 1.7 kg total, 1.11 m

In general good condition, point missing, blade structure with little delamination along the upper part, corrosion damages along the edges and on the surface, some material loss on the original surface.

Private collection, Munich, Germany, 1970s. Private collection, London, UK, 2014, acquired from the above.

The Schiavonesca sword was used by Dalmatian mercenaries serving in the Venetian state armies, and produced by the workshops of the Serenissima to which the marks probably belong. Many of these swords were produced in Dubrovnik, a Croatian city under Venetian rule. Oakeshott classified all the pommels of square shape in his Type Z. Certain morphological differences between them were individuated by Dr Aleksić as a criteria for distinguishing the distinct subtypes, in this case the type Z3 for the upper crenelleted edge. The cross-guards of type 12b, like in this case, have symmetrically and horizontally sharply bent arms in the opposite directions. The 'cat's head' pommel is also found on surviving examples of cross-hilted swords of the 14th century which can be traced into the hands of Slavonic soldiers stationed in southern Europe, employed in the European armies of this period. The independent representation of the cross fourchee usually inscribed in a circle is rather frequent on the swords with type 12 cross guards and type Z pommels from Hungary, Northern Balkans and the neighbouring regions (Aleksić, 2007, p.122).