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LOT 0303
Western Asiatic South Caspian Bronze Sword
9TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.
28 in. (1.06 kg, 71 cm).
With penannular guard and a multi-fullered double edged blade tapering to a sharp point, solid cast hilt made of a round handle with two decorative discs under the stone mushroom pommel.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See a similar sword in Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, pp.167-168, no.166.
FootnotesIn this sword it is possible that hilt and blade were not cast as one unit, but rather that the hilt was cast onto the blade. The thick guard is related to the crescent type, but here is almost rectangular, albeit with rounded shoulders, like in the blade of Metropolitan published by Muscarella.
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AUCTIONS:
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Large Luristan Bronze Adze-Axehead
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
With central shaft hole and blade set at right angle. 1.22 kg, 24.5 cm
From a 1990s German collection. Ex London, UK, gallery.
The adze-axe was a fundamental axe of many Bronze Age cultures of the world. Its form was one that lends itself to dual purposes - for war and peace. As a tool, it was used to shape wood in fabricating a variety of objects or even wooden beams for construction. As a weapon, its heavy mass and compact form make it a very deadly striking and chopping weapon, even able to defeat light armour. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Short Sword with Mushroom Pommel
Late 2nd-early 1st millennium B.CSold for (Inc. bp): £780
The hilt with mushroom-shaped pommel, round grip, crescentic guard, long sloping blade with rectangular sectioned mid-ridge. 1.04 kg, 56.5 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s.
This category of swords has been classified by Khorasani as 'swords with a mushroom pommel' and are usually characterised by a solid-cast hilt with a penannular guard, a ribbed or variously decorated grip and the conical hollow-cast mushroom pommel. Usually the blade is multi-fullered and tapers to a sharp tip. Moorey considers them to be from the end of the 2nd millennium B.C. -
Medieval Bronze Macehead
Circa 12th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Spherical in profile with very broad vertical socket, lattice-pattern to the sidewall forming low studs. 262 grams, 50 mm
Private collection, Arundel, West Sussex, UK, 1975-late 1990s.
