Loading, please wait...
LOT 0304
Scythian Iron Akinakes Sword with Decorations
4TH CENTURY B.C.
23 in. (481 grams, 58.5 cm).
Of Central Asian typology, strong hilt and narrow ogival guard with Steppe style ornamentation, tipped hilt, triangular tapering blade fitted with a central triangular blood channel with sixteen grooves.
ProvenanceEx private collection of Mr M.B., Mainz, Germany, since the 1980s.
Acquired from the above, 2004.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12283-214520.
See Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, see pl.VIII, no.53, for a similar sword; cf. Meliukova, A.I., Vooruzhenie skifov. Moskva: Nauka Svod arheologicheskih istochnikov, Moscow, 1964, pl.18,10, for a near identical sword from Sofievska.
FootnotesThe akinakes was a characteristic Scythian type of weaponry, which was used throughout their history (7th-3rd centuries B.C.). With the departure of the Scythians from the steppe in the 3rd century B.C., and the appearance of the Sarmatian tribes in the Northern Black Sea region in the 2nd-1st centuries B.C., Sarmatian types of bladed weapons spread in the region. This particular shape of akinakes belongs to the nomadic cultures of Central Asia.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 0304
Scythian Iron Akinakes Sword with Decorations
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000€1,740 - 2,320 (for guidance only)$2,030 - 2,700 (for guidance only)
-
Medieval Iron Horse Snaffle Bit Collection
Circa 14th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Two snaffle bits with curb strap ring to each end, mounted on a fabric-covered display board with titling panel. 467 grams total, 17.5-20 cm
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968. -
Scythian Bronze Zoomorphic Openwork Horse Chamfron
4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £8,450
The edges formed of opposed curving serpent heads, each pair flanking a central zoomorphic head, possibly representing a horse or a beast; the animals with incised detailing to their bodies and heads; a large horse(?) head to the lower edge with its muzzle forming the point of the chamfron; two loops to the reverse. 283 grams, 39.5 cm
From the Gorovits family collection, since at least the 1940s. Private collection, London. 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. 17178-221462.
Bronze open-worked frontlets like this one were found with horses in the Barrow-mound no.5 of the Ulyap burial-ground in the Kuban basin, and their secure dating to the 4th century B.C. was established by the Thasian amphoras found in the respective graves (nn. 14-15-21, see Leskov, 1990, figs.180,183). The incised decoration of the chamfron finds various parallels both on frontlets from Barrow-Mounds nos. 4/1913 and 4/1917 near Elizavetinskaya Kossack-Village, in Kuban Basin, and from Gyuenos in Abkhazia (Galanina, 2010, pl.7,12). The piece belongs to a rare type of chamfron, known only from finds in the Scythian and Meotian burials of 5th-4th centuries B.C. -
Luristan Wide-Bladed Bronze Sword with Blood Channels
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Two-edged leaf-shaped blade with short rectangular tang, corrugated midrib extending almost to the tip and flared at the shoulders. 671 grams, 48.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
Luristan was hardly an ethnic or political entity, but the people of Luri had relations through warfare and trade with Sumerians, Lullubi, Assyrians, Babylonians and Elamites in a large time period, spanning from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BC. The ruling elites of warrior horsemen were buried in the graves with their weapons and horses.
