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LOT 0275
Roman Iron Pugio Dagger
CIRCA 3RD CENTURY A.D.
14 1/2 in. (772 grams total including stand, dagger: 343 grams, 37 cm).
Leaf-shaped wide blade with a narrow waist, a thick crossbar and a lozenge-section handle with a double-lobed pommel; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceSpanish collection, German auction, 1980s.
Ex John Lawton private collection, Surrey, UK.
Accompanied by a copy of a previous illustrated catalogue page, including provenance
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13495-263284.
See Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 1993; Bishop, M. C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment from the Punic Wars to the fall of Rome, London, 2006; Ibañez, F.C., ‘Post Vestigium Exercitus. Militaria romana en la región septentrional de la Península Ibérica durante la época Altoimperial’ in Morillo, A. (ed.), Actas del II Congreso de Arqueología Militar Romana en Hispania. Universidad de León-Ayuntamiento de León, León, 2006, pp.257-308; Casprini, F., Saliola, M., Pugio gladius brevis est, storia e tecnologia del pugnale da guerra romano, Roma, 2012.
FootnotesThis dagger belongs to the last period of evolution of the Roman type III pugio, and to the blade types of the III period, according to the Saliola-Casprini classification (Saliola-Casprini, 2012, nos.45,54). Compared to the previous types of the 1st century A.D., the slender, lanceolate blade shows a considerable size, up to 45 cm long or longer, with a plain appearance and no decoration, even on the scabbard, when preserved.
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LOT 0275
Roman Iron Pugio Dagger
Estimate £2,500 - 3,500€2,900 - 4,060 (for guidance only)$3,380 - 4,730 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£1,250 (EUR 1,450; USD 1,688) +BP*
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Caananite Bronze Short Sword Blade
2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Broad double-edged blade with raised gusseted midrib, rounded tip and short tang. 381 grams, 37.7 cm
Ex West Country, UK, collection, 1990s. -
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Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
1000-700 B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Comprising fifteen tanged arrowheads, four with elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, two of squared type with flat tang, three with barbed shoulders and short cylindrical stem with handle for the shaft; two with squared shoulders and rectangular stem with handle for the shaft, one with leafed elongated blade, one with wide triangular head and long handle for the shaft, and other two long and spiked with raised midrib. 240 grams total, 7.1-16.5 cm
London, UK, collection, 1990s.
Some of the arrowheads belong to type V of the Khorasani classification: subtype D (triangular arrowheads with rounded or angular midrib) and subtype C, arrowheads with elongated, triangular shape with barbed shoulders and convex sides, and a raised midrib with a sharp central line. -
Post Medieval Sword Hilt Plate with Figural Decoration
Probably European, circa late 17th-early 18th century A.D.Estimate: £30 - 40 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Of broad, lobed outline, pierced centrally with a rectangular aperture, the perimeter forms four rounded lobes, arranged in opposing pairs and separated by inward-curving notches, a raised, rounded border enclosing the decorated field, the principal face densely ornamented in relief with stylised figural forms, grotesque creatures and curling scrollwork, elongated bodies and limbs extend around the central opening, while coiled, serpentine forms fill the outer lobes, small leaves, rounded bosses and subsidiary curls occupy the intervening spaces. 68.3 grams, 71 mm
Acquired on the European art market. UK, private collection.
The lobed form, central aperture and raised perimeter are consistent with a detached shell guard from a sword hilt. Such a guard would have been fitted around the blade at the base of the hilt, forming part of the protection for the hand. Its decoration belongs to the ornamental vocabulary found on late 17th- and early 18th-century sword furniture, in which figures, fantastic creatures and foliage were combined across relatively small cast or chiselled surfaces. A useful comparison is the English smallsword-type infantry hanger dated 1720-1750 in the Colonial Williamsburg collection. Its cast brass hilt incorporates paired shell guards with raised borders and densely arranged classical figures and foliage. The correspondence in construction and treatment supports the present plate’s interpretation as a sword-hilt component and its proposed date.
