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LOT 0271
Scythian Scale Armour Sections
6TH-5TH CENTURY B.C.
6 - 6 1/2 in. (255 grams total, 15.2-16.5 cm).
Two panels from a scale armour coat composed of more than two hundred overlapping bronze scales, each mounted onto a custom-made leather panel for purposes of display; the scales formed in different series, some having holes only in the upper part, some with three holes in the upper part and two holes to the left, and others showing three upper holes and one side hole. [2]
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 a search certificate number no.12044-216404.
Cf. similar scales from Egypt, dated circa 590 B.C., in the Metropolitan Museum, discovered in the palace of Apries, accession no. 09.183.7a–v; Cernenko, E.V., The Scythians 700-300 BC, Hong Kong, 1998, pp.7ff., pl.D & E; for identical scales see Полин, С.В. & Колтухов, С.Г., ‘A Scythian Burial in a mound near the S.Nadezhda in Crimea’ and Лихачёва, О.С., ‘Elements of Scythian tradition in the complex of armament of the Altai forest-steppes population, in the 6th -3rd centuries B.C.’, in Russian Academy of science, The war and the military in the Scythian-Sarmatian world, Proceedings of International Scientific Conference in tribute to the memory of A.I. Melyukova (Kagal’nik, 26–29 April 2014), pp.119-126 and pp.162-171, pl.3 p.126, fig.2 p.165.
FootnotesThe favourite armour of the Scythian noblemen was composed of scales, usually protecting the torso, sometimes the entire body (kataphraktoi). The Scythians found that the most efficient method was to arrange the overlapping ‘fish-scales’ as a corselet made of a number of bronze and iron plates, which then protected the wearer against sword and spear thrusts. Our scales correspond well to bronze scales found in May 1961 in an accidentally destroyed burial in a barrow, near the village of Nadezhda Sovetsky district. They were discovered together with iron scales, a Greek Corinthian helmet, fragments of an amphora, five arrowheads and fragments of an iron sword. Most of these bronze scales were oblong in shape, with a sub-rectangular upper end and a rounded lower end, but slightly bigger than our scales.
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Scythian Scale Armour Sections
6th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Two panels from a scale armour coat composed of more than two hundred overlapping bronze scales, each mounted onto a custom-made leather panel for purposes of display; the scales formed in different series, some having holes only in the upper part, some with three holes in the upper part and two holes to the left, and others showing three upper holes and one side hole. 255 grams total, 15.2-16.5 cm
From 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 a search certificate number no.12044-216404.
The favourite armour of the Scythian noblemen was composed of scales, usually protecting the torso, sometimes the entire body (kataphraktoi). The Scythians found that the most efficient method was to arrange the overlapping ‘fish-scales’ as a corselet made of a number of bronze and iron plates, which then protected the wearer against sword and spear thrusts. Our scales correspond well to bronze scales found in May 1961 in an accidentally destroyed burial in a barrow, near the village of Nadezhda Sovetsky district. They were discovered together with iron scales, a Greek Corinthian helmet, fragments of an amphora, five arrowheads and fragments of an iron sword. Most of these bronze scales were oblong in shape, with a sub-rectangular upper end and a rounded lower end, but slightly bigger than our scales. -
Anglo-Saxon Iron Socketted Spearhead
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £163
Lentoid-section narrow blade with thick shoulder, closed socket; Swanton's Group I2. 159 grams, 26 cm
Found near Wetwang, East Yorkshire, UK. Acquired circa 2005. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK.
The spear-heads of group I2 belong to a larger number of blades with more slender and regularly curved leaf-shapes than previous types. The majority present profiles more regularly curved from junction to tip, the broader part of the blade near the middle, with the fuller comformably longer. All of the group are much of the length varying between some 25 and 35 cm. -
North-West Persian Bronze Short Sword with Blood Channels
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £250 - 350 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £125
Shaped as a two-edged bronze blade, leaf-shape with short rectangular tang with fastening hole, corrugated midrib extending almost to the tip and flared at the shoulder. 439 grams, 44.2 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The metalworking techniques used in making bronze weapons in Luristan were very complex. Surfaces were often finished in repoussé work, and some of the weapons were chased and others engraved. Many of the graves dating from the era of Kassite hegemony contain bronze and iron artefacts, including various type of weapons. These swords with shallow fullers tapering to a sharp tip have been dated by P.R.S. Moorey to the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.
