Luristan Sword with Blood Channels
Late 2nd-early 1st millennium B.C. A tanged bronze sword of triangular shape with multiple fullers tapering to a pointed tip, the tang forming an extension of the thick ridged midrib. Cf. Moorey, P.R.S., Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1971, p.78, no.57, for similar; see also Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 1, London, 2002, p.26, no.24. 295 grams, 42 cm (16 1/2 in.). with John Hewitt.Ex Maurice Braham, acquired from the above.Lord Alistair McAlpine collection. The blade belongs to a sword probably made in a Luristan workshop, once fitted with a conical pommel and a crescentic guard. The metalworking techniques used in making bronze weapons in Luristan were very complex. Surfaces were often finished in repoussé work, and some of the weapons were chased, others engraved.