Iran. Finely cast, the triangular tapered blade with a broad concentric ridge, the tubular hilt with three ribs and a curved pommel.

Provenance: From a private collection in Amagansett, New York.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with extensive wear, minor casting flaws, few nicks, light scratches, minor losses, signs of weathering and corrosion, and encrustations. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with areas of malachite and cuprite encrustation.

Weight: 385 g
Dimensions: Length 41.5 cm

Luristan bronzes are small, decorated objects from the Early Iron Age (first millennium BC) which have been found in large numbers in Lorestan province and Kermanshah in western Iran. They include a great number of ornaments, tools, weapons, horse fittings, and a smaller number of vessels including situlae and are characterized by a wide range of idiosyncratic forms and a highly stylized conception of human and animal representation. Those from recorded excavations were generally found in burials. The ethnicity of the people who created them remains unclear, though they may well have been Indo-European, possibly related to the modern Lur people who have given their name to the area. Luristan bronze objects came to the notice of the world art market from the late 1920s onwards. They were excavated in considerable quantities by local people and are found today in many of the world's most important museums.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Luristan bronze sword with a similar hilt and central ridge, 48.9 cm long, dated to the 1st millennium BC, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.81.255.4.