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LOT 0275
'The Braintree' Bronze Age Axehead and Foundry 'Carp's Tongue/Ewart Phase' Hoard
DEPOSITED CIRCA 900-800 B.C.
7/8 - 4 3/8 in. (5.20 kg total, 2-11 cm).
Being an entire 'founder' hoard deposit comprising: complete socketted axes (6; three with linear ornament to sockets); fragments of socketted and earlier type palstave axes (18, including two that fit together); fragments of other items (4) and pieces of copper 'bun' ingot (8). [36]
ProvenanceFound whilst searching with a metal detector in Braintree, Essex, UK, on 14th August 2019.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BM-C514EA and with a copy of the Harwich Museum loan form.
Disclaimed under the Treasure Act with reference number 2019 T731.
The British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), reference BM-C514EA (this find).
Exhibited at Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 29th June-4th September 2023.
See Pendleton, Colin F., Bronze Age Metalwork in Northern East Anglia, BAR British Series 279, 1999, for much information on similar pieces found in East Anglia; see also Evans, John, The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1881.
FootnotesThe composition of this hoard is quite typical of similar deposits found across south-eastern England and dating to the Late Bronze Age; most such finds include broken fragments together with pieces of ingot and some complete items, as seen here. It is unusual to see an entire deposit offered together as most such are either held in museums or have been divided up.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0275
'The Braintree' Bronze Age Axehead and Foundry 'Carp's Tongue/Ewart Phase' Hoard
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
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Bronze Age Rapier or Short Sword Blade
11th-9th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
With ogival sides, a raised mid-rib and lozenge-shaped shoulders, remains of the tang with a hole for the insertion of the fastening rivet. 223 grams, 31.5 cm
Acquired in the late 19th century. Ex private collection, Liverpool, UK. Helios Gallery Antiquities, Wiltshire, UK. Private collection, Preston, UK. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Helios Gallery no.H3163r.
The top of the sword is missing, and the shape of the blade resembles that of swords of the late European Bronze Age, but the particular shape of the central groove of the blade, which forms a three-quarter median rib before tapering towards the point, could lead one to believe that the sword was of the antennal type with median rib, like the sword from Central Italy preserved in the Calvet Museum, Avignon. -
Bronze Age Coiled Bracelet and Ring Group
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Two coiled bracelets with D-section and round-section bodies; three differently sized coiled rings. 62.3 grams total, 13-70 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance. -
Large Bronze Age Freeform 'Pancake' Founder's Ingot
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Of amorphous form with inclusions to both surfaces; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 2 kg total, 34.5 cm high including stand
Found Cotham, Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK.
These ingots were cast in shallow scoops carved into boulders or stones at places where the ore was mined and smelted; they were then traded across the Bronze Age world as raw material.
