A Very Rare Early Iron Age Sword
49
A Very Rare Early Iron Age Sword
Hallstatt Culture, Mid-5th To Late 4th Century B.C., Probably French
In excavated condition, with slender double-edged blade of flattened diamond section, integral hilt comprising spherical quillons, waisted grip of diamond section drawn-out to a point on either side and set with a square piece of blue glass beneath the arched pommel, the latter formed of four graduated lobes
73 cm. blade, 86.4 cm. overall
Sold for £2,500 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • Provenance:
    Acquired from Robert-Jean Charles, Paris, May 1956

    Literature;
    Hoffmeyer, cat. no. 20, pp. 28, 35 and 69, figs, 7 and 12

    A similar example is preserved in the Dabrée Museum, Nantes, and another was sold from the Dreger Collection (Dreger cat. no. 49) by Fischer and Kahlert & son, Lucerne, 2 August 1927, lot 10

    For more information regarding the Hallstatt Culture see Frederick P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandame and John McBrewster, Hallstatt Culture, 2009

Category: Arms and Armour

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