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LOT 1791
Western Asiatic Bronze Tanged Spearhead
EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
13 3/8 in. (370 grams, 34 cm).
Slender blade with raised midrib and rectangular-section tang with clubbed finial.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
LiteratureCf. Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron, ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, no.176, for the type.
FootnotesA certain number of similar blades, some considered to be spearheads and others to be daggers, all with bent tang, derived from Tepe Hissar Culture III. Some of them, like our specimen, have a button terminal, others have a plain, pointed terminal. The general dating of these specimens is fixed to the early 2nd millennium B.C.
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AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Bronze Spear Blade
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Comprising a triangular blade with a rounded tip, a flaring neck with incised barleytwist detailing, and a square-section tang with bent tip. 355 grams, 32.2 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s. -
Luristan Bronze Socketted Axehead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
With a long D-shaped blade with a scooped profile and a tubular socket offset at the base. 313 grams, 16 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
Many examples of bronze axeheads are attributed to the Luristan culture and various shapes have been discussed by different scholars. Moorey (1971, pp.39-41) shows similar axeheads, stating that the texts executed on some specimens have shown them made of arsenical bronze, and attributes them to the late 3rd millennium B.C. or 2nd millennium B.C., period in which this alloy was used abundantly. -
Elamite Bronze Macehead Inscribed 'To Nin’azu, Bala, son of Lugal-kare-si'
Early Dynastic IIIB Period, circa 2500-2340 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Comprising a cylindrical shaft with a narrow flanged base, the upper section with three vertical relief panels decorated by round spikes alternated with a wavy pattern, divided and bordered by parallel ridges, engraved with five lines of Sumerian cuneiform text around the socket, a votive inscription translating to: 'To Nin’azu, Bala, son of Lugal-kare-si, the merchant, has presented (it)'. 350 grams, 11.6 cm
Acquired before 1983. Ex London gallery, 1990s. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13257-253385.
This gorz mace head belongs to the category of truncheon-shaped mace heads, a type developed on the Iranian plateau during the Bronze Age, used by Elamite and Luristan warriors since the 3rd millennium B.C. This category of objects was also interpreted as a part of a shaft or cudgel, but most scholars agree on the interpretation of use as a mace.
