A fine Luristan bronze adze-head, featuring a rectangular, flat blade angled downwards. The adze-head features a vertical round shaft hole which widens towards the top and is enhanced with folded rims at either end. The blade develops from the top of the shaft hole, rectangular in shape and flaring towards a flat horizontal cutting edge. A lovely green patination and earthy encrustations feature across the surface. A hairline crack to the underside of the blade. The adze axe was a fundamental axe of many Bronze Age ancient cultures the world over. Its form was one that lends itself to dual purposes - for war and peace. As a tool, it functions to shape wood in fabricating a variety of objects or even wooden beams for construction. As a weapon, its heavy mass and compact form made it a very deadly striking and chopping weapon, even able to defeat light armour. Unadorned weapons, especially axes, adzes and picks, were made by craftsmen using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds, into which was inserted a core to form the socket for the shaft. Due to the nomadic nature of the tribes, none of the bronzes were of great size, since it was required for them to be light and portable. Measurements: L 15.6cm x H 6.8cm Provenance: Ex Japanese private collection, formed 1970-2010.