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LOT 1357
Western Asiatic Bronze Short Sword with Integral Hilt with Horns
LATE 2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
20 3/4 in. (466 grams, 53 cm).
A bronze dagger blade with prominently curved guard, which extends out from the ricasso of the blade and partly frames the hilt, thick flat midrib extending slightly above the ricasso where it held the hilt.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See similar swords in Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, pp.99-100.
FootnotesThe hilt of such swords was made separately, and unfortunately is nearly always missing from the archaeological records. Similar daggers had a northern Iranian background and excavated examples have been recorded from the South Caspian Area from Tomadjan and Ghalekuti.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1357
Western Asiatic Bronze Short Sword with Integral Hilt with Horns
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
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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. -
Viking Age Iron Pattern-Welded Sword with Bronze Jellinge Hilt
11th-13th century A.D.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,500
Double-edged cutting sword of Curonian Type with tapering fullers and showing battle scars; boat-shaped bronze cross-guard with Jellinge Style decoration, the seven-lobed pommel with similar decoration. 918 grams, 92.5 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 number no.12175-221434.
The Curonian swords of this type, sometimes with animal head decoration on the lower guard, were widespread and used in the Eastern Baltic lands from 10th to 13th century. Curonian swords possessed both plastic hilt details (ends of the lower guards in the form of animal heads) of animal style, a clear influence from the Germanic style of Scandinavians, as well as a regular geometric ornament, a decoration motif derived from the Romanesque art. -
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Mongol Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
12th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Piriform body with domed filler-hole, the surface divided by four long grooves united at the bottom, and pattern like scales; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 474 grams, 14.3 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
This piece was a sort of ceramic fire grenade, similar to the ones used by the Eastern Romans but of Turco-Mongol type. Apart from the use of manual flame-throwers, special corps of soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations, even in Burma.
