Beautiful Luristan Bronze Sword with Hard-Stone Pommel

$1,895.57

An extremely fine and substantial Luristan cast bronze sword featuring a long triangle-shaped double-edged blade and a prominent mid-rib with lightly incised lines running parallel towards the tip. The hilt is cylindrical and connects to the blade in a crescent shape. The pommel is carved from hard stone, possibly granite, and modelled in a spherical shape, and further embellished by a carved geometric decoration; it is extremely rare and unusual to find Luristan swords with intact hard stone pommels. The entire sword is covered in a beautiful green and light brown patination. Blades of this type are more commonly found in the territories of ancient Western Persia (modern Iran) and were used from the late Bronze Age onwards.

Date: Circa 1800-600 BC
Condition: Good condition, some green patination on the surface.

SOLD

SKU: CS-89 Category: Tag:

Luristan bronze comes from the province of Lorestan, a region situated in the area of modern South-Western Iran. In ancient times a number of nomadic populations, such as the Medes, the Kassites and eventually the Persians, settled in the area. Due to the nomadic nature of the tribes, none of the Luristan bronzes were of great size, since it was required for them to be light and portable. Their artwork mainly comprises ornaments, vessels and weapons. Most of Luristan weapons have been recovered in funerary contexts, suggesting that such weapons would have been used not only in everyday life but also with ceremonial purposes.

To discover more about the Luristan Empire, please visit our relevant blog post: The Luristan Empire: Beauty of Bronze.

Weight 800 g
Dimensions L 63.9 cm
Culture

Metal

Region

Reference: For a similar item, The Metropolitan Museum, item 1974.47.1.