A Bronze Age copper alloy winged palstave, c. 1800-1500 B.C.

A Bronze Age copper alloy winged palstave, c. 1800-1500 B.C.

Code: 2770

£395.00

Description: A copper alloy winged palstave with a dark green-brown patina. The deep flanges lozenge-shaped in form and lacking a stop-ridge, and with a crescentric cutting edge.  Overall patchy wear to the patina, with the underlying bronze exposed on the flange high points and also along the blade edge. Losses to both ends of the cutting edge, but otherwise condition good.

Size: 123 mm/4.8 ins. in length

Culture: Late Early Bronze Age to Early Middle Bronze Age

Date: c. 1800-1500 B.C.

Provenance: Ex Richard and Molly Alexander Collection, Seaford, East Sussex.

Background: Molly Alexander and her husband Richard shared a passion for art and antiquities and established their own antique and fine art shops in The Lanes, Brighton, in the 1960’s. Richard was a recognised expert in Roman and Greek antiquities and coins having worked at Spink’s in London after World War II. Molly specialised in fine art and chinese pottery. They closed their respective shops in Brighton in the late 1970’s but they kept their unsold stock. The most valuable items were kept in a secret cupboard in their home at Seaford, East Sussex, where they remained for over 40 years.

Notes: Compare Fig. 56 in Evans (1881), p. 76, for a similar example but with a longer thinner blade, found near Reeth in the North Riding of Yorkshire. According to Evans, palstaves without a stop-ridge, and with broad lozenge-shaped wings are rare (p. 100).

Reference: Evans, J., 1881, The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland, Longmans, Green & Co., London.