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LOT 1030
Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
2 1/2 in. (19.6 grams total, 64-66 mm).
Each a scrolled bar formed as a serpent or other animal with stylised geometric detailing; attachment perforations to both terminals. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.
LiteratureCf. Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 2006, p.96, fig.51,3 for similar.
FootnotesIn the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D., the Celtic fastening system of the ring mail armour (gallica, lorica ferro aspera) became the standard in the Imperial Roman army, with a pivot attached to the breast and hinged to the edges of the humeralia (shoulder guards). The chest fastener had various different designs. The double hooks, S-shaped and usually with snake-head terminals, were secured by a central rivet on the chest. The system allowed excellent freedom of movement, giving greater protection to the shoulders and the arms. Similar fasteners for infantry mail have been found on the Kalkriese battlefield, some of them also decorated with niello and inscribed with the name of the soldier.
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LOT 1030
Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
Estimate £150 - 200€170 - 230 (for guidance only)$200 - 270 (for guidance only)
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Medieval Iron Schiavonesca Type Sword with Latten Inlaid Crosses
Circa 15th century A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £300
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 the 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 pommel from Hungary, Northern Balkans and the neighbouring regions (Aleksić, 2007, p.122). -
Luristan Bronze Arrowhead Group
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £80
Mainly composed of tanged examples of barbed and leaf-shaped types. 220 grams total, 7.5-12.5 cm
Acquired 1990s. From the collection of a late Japanese weaponry collector. -
Post Medieval Iron Socketted Spearhead
18th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Composed of a tapering tubular socket and short triangular blade. 158 grams, 28.5 cm
Fair condition.
Acquired on the UK art market before 1980. Private British collection 1980. Private collection of a Devonshire, UK, collector.