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LOT 0303
Roman Pattern-Welded Iron Spatha with Inlaid Military Figure
LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.
32 1/4 in. (467 grams, 82 cm).
With double-edged blade of Lauriacum Hromówka typology with blood channels running for the most of its length; inlaid figure of standing Mars Ultor wearing armour (statos) and plumed galea helmet, holding a shield (aspis) and a spear; the blade cleaned and conserved on one side.
ProvenanceFrom the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11922-209659.
Cf. Biborski, M., ‘Miecze z okresu wpływów rzymskich na obszarze kultury przeworskiej’, in Materiały Archeologiczne XVIII, 1978, pp.53-165; Robinson, H.R., What the soldiers wore on Hadrian’s Wall, New Castle on Tyne, 1976-1979; Czarnecka, K., ‘Two newly-found Roman swords from the Przeworsk culture cemetery in Oblin, Siedlce District, Poland’ in JRMES 3, 1992, pp.41-56; Bishop, M. C., & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 1993; Biborski, M., ‘Römische Schwerter im Gebiet des europäischen Barbaricum’, in JRMES 5, 1994, pp. 169-198; Radjush, O., ‘New armament finds of the Scythian wars' epoch in the northern Black Sea region’ in Busch, A. W. and Schalles, H.-J. (eds.), Waffen in Aktion. Akten des 16. Internationale Roman Military Equipment Conference (ROMEC), Xanten, 13.–16. June 2007, Xantener Berichte 16, Darmstad, 2009, pp.183–8; Guillaud I., Militaria à Lugdunum: étude de l’armement et de l’équipement militaire d’époque romaine à Lyon (1er s. av.-IVe s. apr. J.-C.), Archéologie et Préhistoire, Lyon, 2017; for very similar specimens see Miks, 2007, nos. A146,3; A146,10 (Ejsbol); A384 (Krasnik-Piasti); A595 (Pontoux); A830 (Sisak); A620 (Rezeczyca Dluga); A586 (Pododlow); A676 (Sobotka); A211 (Kielce) and especially A681,1 (South Shields).
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LOT 0303
Roman Pattern-Welded Iron Spatha with Inlaid Military Figure
Estimate £7,000 - 9,000€8,120 - 10,440 (for guidance only)$9,450 - 12,150 (for guidance only)
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Bactrian Bronze Eye Axehead
3rd-2d millennium B.C.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
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. -
Luristan Bronze Horse Bit
9th-8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
The cheekpieces formed as winged deer with horns and small ears, a circular opening to the body for the bar to pass through, two loops and studs to the reverse; the bar with looped circular terminals. 543 grams, 17.5 cm
Ex old English collection. London art market, pre 2000. Property of a Lonodon, UK, gentleman.
The most admirable horse bits ever created by man are undoubtedly those from Luristan, a province which extended along the valleys that make up the central part of the Zagros mountains. Worked in cast bronze with the lost wax process, they almost always had a rigid cannon in round or square bars which were flattened and rolled up around themselves at the ends, but their exceptional feature were the figural side bars. The local metalsmiths, in a period of time between 1200 and 700 B.C. managed to create an infinite number of typologies: horses, oxen, ibex, roosters and various mythological animals. -
Luristan Bronze Short Sword
Circa 1000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
The blade with a tapering profile, triangular in overall form, with slender shoulders, penannular guard with strong midrib, flanged hilt with crenellated grip, widening slightly into a fan-shaped pommel, cracked. 421 grams, 42 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
These types of short sword or dirks were usually cast in one piece, and the penannular rib in relief was cast on at the same time with the handle of the blade. In some cases, however, the penannular rib was later cast on the dagger, possibly to strengthen a weak point at the junction of hilt and blade. The flanged hilt was originally inlaid with organic material such as bone.
