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LOT 1188
Roman Iron Anti-Cavalry Caltrop
3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER
2 7/8 in. (24 grams, 73 mm).
Composed of four arms tipped with triangular spikes.
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market around 2000s.
From the collection of an EU gentleman living in the UK.
Cf. Beutler, F. et al., Der Adler Roms. Carnuntum und die Armee der Cäsaren, Bad-Deutsch-Altenburg, 2017, item 204, for type.
FootnotesCaltrops were scattered on battlefields in an effort to stop or slow advancing enemy cavalry or foot soldiers; regardless of how a caltrop lands, one spike is always facing upwards. Caesar used widely them at Alesia (Caes., BG 7.73; 82): 'Stakes a foot long, with iron hooks attached to them, were entirely sunk in the ground before these, and were planted in every place at small intervals; these they called spurs'.
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AUCTIONS:
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Canaanite Bronze Dirk
13th-12th century B.C.Estimate: £700 - 900 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £375
With lentoid-section blade, tongue-shaped in plan, integral tapering hilt with flared finial, lateral flanges to accept a panel of bone or wood to each face forming the grip. 289 grams total, 39.5 cm high including stand
Ex Joseph J. Gancie (1923-2010), Washington, Silver Spring, Maryland. with Alex Cooper Auctioneers Inc., sale 1035, 27 January 2013, lot 162a.
The dirk belongs to the type III in the Medvedskaya classification, used in Near East from the 13th to the 6th century B.C. The type is the 32a of the Maxwell-Hyslop study. The Asiatic daggers of this type are confined to Syria and Persia, but Transcaucasia also provides an interesting analogy from Kalekent on the Baku peninsula, where a pointed straight-sided dagger blade has a flanged hilt with the whole of the side flanges bent over the centre. -
Luristan Short Sword Blade
Early 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Triangular with thick rectangular-section midrib, rounded shoulders, narrow tip, short tang with hole for fixing pin for the organic grip; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 285 grams total, 32 cm wide including stand
Acquired 1980s-1990s. From the H.N. collection, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK.
This tanged bronze blade from Luristan belongs to a category of Luristan swords still in use in the Achaemenid Period, as proved by a blade with a perished handle (probably bone or wood) of the same type, in the National Museum of Iran (2694/15633). Examples without inscriptions like our model have been classified by Grotkamp-Schepers in the Solingen Museum as pieces from Luristan. -
North-West Persian Bronze Dagger Blade
Late 2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
With prominently curved guard extending out from the ricasso partly framing the hilt, thick midrib extending slightly above the ricasso. 464 grams, 52.2 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The hilt of such swords was made separately and unfortunately is nearly always missing from the archaeological records. Similar daggers had a northern Iranian background and excavated examples have been recorded from the South Caspian area from Tomadjan and Ghalekuti.
