Beschreibung:

BRONZE AGE BRITISH 'SALISBURY' TYPE SOCKETTED AXEHEAD 12th-8th century BC A substantial Salisbury Type cast and decorated looped and socketted bronze axehead with a convex cutting edge tapering from a square body and round socket; the faces ornamented with a series of integral longitudinal lines to each face, arcing from centre to edges and with a side loop for attachment; with inked reference 'Martinsell Hill, Wiltshire, 1981'. 176 grams, 10cm (4"). Condition Very fine condition, excellent patination. Provenance The Chris Rudd collection, Norfolk, UK; formed since the 1970s; collection number AX77; previously in the Michael Nellist collection; formerly in the Stephen Murray collection (with record card and conservation record by J. M. Jones ; found near Martinsell Hill Fort, Wiltshire, UK, 1981. Published Hammond, Brett Finding the Bronze Age in Britain, The Searcher, October 2014, fig.9, p.52 (this axehead); also illustrated in Benet's Artefacts, 3rd edition, 2014, fig.B01-0410, p.52 (this axehead). Footnotes Chris Rudd has collected ancient coins and antiquities since the 1940s. As an amateur archaeologist he found many himself at Badbury Rings, Dorset, 1952-53. He also dug at Hod Hill with Professor Sir Ian Richmond and at Wroxeter with Dame Kathleen Kenyon and Dr Graham Webster. Today he is best known as a Celtic coin dealer. His catalogues have been described as ‘an important research source’ by Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe and ‘treasure houses of delight’ by Dr Anne Ross. Coins and artefacts associated with Chris Rudd – as a collector, dealer and valuer – can be seen in The British Museum and other museums. This collection was formed since the 1970s.