Important Collection of Antique Asian Arms
Lot 134:
A distinctive spear point from the Aborigine people of Australia. These particularforms of spear points, made of recycled glass were a phenomenon in Colonial Australia in the19th century. This serrated spear point is likely from the Kimberley district of North WesternAustralia. This spear point represents a fascinating object representative of the intermingling ofcultures during the Colonial period in Australia. In this case, Australian Aboriginal methods ofproducing stone tools were hybridized with imported European materials, such as the dark glasson this Schmiedt Collection example, to produce a sharper and more easily manufacturedspearhead. These points are excellent examples of the sort of pressure-flaked spear points thathave been produced in the northern Kimberley and Arnhem Land for more than three thousandyears. These points are bifacial, worked on both sides of the blade, and were regarded veryhighly by many Aboriginal groups throughout Northern and Western Australia. Consequently, they have been documented as passing more than 1,000km to the south through trade. There arenumerous types of Kimberley points known and manufactured in materials such as bottle glass, porcelain from the insulators of cross-country telegraph cables, as well as more the moretraditional materials of quartzite and basalt used in pre-colonial times.The point itself was made by applying a hammer stone to a large core of the material, in this caseglass. When it was formed into the rough shape, the edge was then flaked. The distinctiveserrated edge that runs along the outer edge of the point was produced by ‘pressure flaking’, which involves applying a pressure flaking stick – such as a pointed stick or a shaped piece ofanimal bone – at a very slight oblique angle to the flat of the blade, at evenly spaced points alongthe edge.The example in the Schmiedt Collection is a beautifully preserved example with a very finelyserrated double sided edge. This example made from dark green glass.Total Length (inside scabbard if present) : Blade Length : 4 1/4" References:1. Pitt Rivers Museum. Arms and Armor: Selected Objects from the Upper Gallery. Greenglass spear head (1932.34.1).Detailed condition reports are not included in this catalog. For additional information, including condition reports, please contact us at [email protected]
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