The mounting of this piece is interesting to me. It is kinda hard to tell, but it looks as if there is a needless long point at the tip of the blade, which has been inserted into some kind of acrylic piece to hold it upright. I wonder if that was added for display purposes (which in a way seems like irreparably harming the artifact), or if the original intended shape is just odd.
The picture is too low res to tell for sure, but I believe what you are actually seeing is a rod that comes out of the base, runs behind the sword, and has a cradle at the top to hold the sword just under the guard (the two shiny bits of metal).
Display purposes, probably. I hope they know how to do such things without harming the artifacts, but unfortunately, not all pieces of antiquity are given the care and expertise they deserve, so I couldn’t guarantee anything about this piece, which I believe is part of a private collection.
deleted by creator
