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LOT 1798
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
14TH-10TH CENTURY B.C.
1 5/8 - 4 in. (159 grams total, 4.2-10.3 cm).
Mixed group of tanged arrowheads, nine with barbed shoulders, two with lanceolate heads, three with triangular heads, one spiked and one with a pyramidal head. [16]
ProvenanceLondon, UK, collection, 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, fig.466, for arrowheads with jet-like wings.
FootnotesThe majority of the arrowheads belong to type IV of the Khorasani classification. They resemble a stylised flying bird, such as a swallow.
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:
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Greek Bronze Tanged and Rivetted Spearhead
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Comprising a triangular blade with a narrow midrib, a short tang with two attachment studs in situ. 184 grams, 32 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Spearhead
9th-7th century B.C.Estimate: £120 - 170 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £67
Comprising a leaf-shaped blade with a midrib and a long tapering socket; accompanied by a display stand, repaired. 365 grams total, spearhead: 36.5 cm (38.2 cm including stand)
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
The spear, belonging to type 3 of the Khorasani classification, was used by chariot fighters to strike each other or the enemy infantry from above. Similar specimens with longer sockets were excavated by Negahban in the Amlash area. According to Moorey, sockets as long, if not longer than the blade, are a characteristic of Iranian spearheads in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium B.C. A similar spearhead from the Tappeh Sialk has been dated to the 9th-7th century B.C. -
Migration Period Iron Sword with Jewelled Hilt
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,980
Comprising: a spatha-type two-edged tapering blade, lentoid in section with sloped shoulders and short tang pierced by an attachment rivet for the grip; traces to both faces of the blade of wooden fibre from the scabbard; edges lightly notched but substantially complete; the lower guard rectangular in plan and scaphoid in section with inset garnet cloisons, triangular along the lower row and heart-shaped above, rectangular at the top, with small rectangular slivers at each end; accompanied by the upper roundel of the pommel, set with four garnet cloisons. 954 grams, 84.5 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 search certificate no. 12357-225921. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
These ‘ceremonial’ swords (in reality widely used in battle) with an inlaid guard are, according to Kazanski, Late Roman in origin. The cloisonné decoration was probably linked with the production of particularly ornamented swords in the ateliers of the Roman capital of Constantinople. This typology of weapon was not only produced as a gift for foreign chiefs allied to the empire, but it was also adopted by the Imperial army, and reserved for the Imperial officers, who were often of Germanic or Asiatic origin.
