Lot 27
Central Europe, Proto-Celtic Urnfield Culture, ca. 1100 to 800 BCE. A wonderful example of a rare Vollgriff ("full grip") sword from the Bronze Age. The sword has a large, raised center groove, an inverted, lunate guard, a three-sectioned handle, and a disc pommel with a raised center dome. The handle most likely once had a textile - probably leather or cord - wrapped around it to provide a spongy grip; some examples also have wood, bone, or deer antler grips. The sword's heft and well-placed balance point indicate its superb craftsmanship. Very lightly incised lines on the underside of the pommel hint at the decoration this piece would have had when first made. Size: 20.75" L x 1.75" W (52.7 cm x 4.4 cm)
Like so many bronze items, this sword would have had many meanings and uses for the people who made it and purchased it. Bronze metallurgy represented an enormous technological step forward in Europe, and helped create an increasingly stratified society where wealth could be kept in the form of functional, cast alloys. This sword would have been useful as a weapon and tool, but finds of similar ones in graves as well as deposited ritually in rivers and peat bogs indicate that it was anything but a utilitarian item.
Provenance: private J. Connell collection, Massachusetts, USA
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#127387
- Condition: Smooth, mottled black and green patina over much of the surface. Small loss from corrosion to guard area. Tiny areas of encrustation, especially on handle.
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