A French Late Bronze Age socketed chisel, early 1st Millennium B.C.

A French Late Bronze Age socketed chisel, early 1st Millennium B.C.

Code: 2732

£125.00

Description: A good-sized bronze socketed chisel with a patchy green-brown patina, the chisel of rectangular cross-section narrowing towards the cutting edge and the socket with a square-shaped aperture. Some minor encrustation otherwise condition good and a nice example.

Size: 125 mm/4.9 ins. in length

Culture: France, Late Bronze Age

Date: c. early 1st Millennium B.C.

Provenance: Ex Dr. H.A. Fawcett Collection.

Background: Dr. Hugh Alderson Fawcett (1891-1982) was a general practitioner and antiquarian who built up an important collection of ancient implements, weapons and ornaments that eventually numbered some eight thousand items. It was he who alerted the British Museum to the discovery of the fabulous Mildenhall treasure after being shown it by Sydney Ford during Easter in 1946. The bulk of his collection is now in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, but Fawcett previously sold or traded many pieces in order to improve his collection. His distinctive monogram and careful recording of provenance makes his pieces readily identifiable.