Re beautiful:
Being a “Forged In Fire” afficianado myself, I look at that piece of ancient hardware and think of the time, sweat, and effort that went into making it.
The fact that it was probably a standardized, mass-produced weapon type, forged by some village smithy “under the spreading chestnut tree” as the old poem goes, is intriguing. He did the “heat, beat, and repeat” method over and over again to produce that piece, and probably a few hundred others...
How cool would it be to find several more Of those, all made by the same blacksmith.... I wonder if those Metal Masters back then put their own identity marks on their creations.
It is bronze and I think most likely was cast, then finished by polishing...................