A Luristan bronze axehead. The axe has a short cylindrical shaft-hole with four furrowed ribs leading to round-tipped short spikes at the back. The blade, initially narrow at the shaft, then broadens into a relatively straight un-sharpened edge. Supplied with a wooden stand.
 
Luristan area of Western Persia. Circa 1200-1000 BC.
 
Complete and intact with light stony accretions on one side the metal stable, with green patina.
Length 18.6 cms (7.3 ins).
 
Provenance: Ex London gallery; previously in a private family collection formed in Cologne, Germany, 1970s to early 1990s.
 
See similar axe heads in Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, item 305.
See also Detroit Institute of Arts: Accession number 72.50
 
Spike-butted axes are hallmarks of Luristan's bronze industry in Iron Age I (c.1200-1000 BC) and this axe displays typical form and decoration from this period.