Felt covered steel water bottle of oval cylindrical shape with wood plug stopper with cord retainer and fitted with canvas carry cover and shoulder strap with printed 'H S & CO Ltd ' maker name and War Department 'broad arrow' mark and date. 592 grams, bottle 23.5 cm high

The Kusmirek Collection, UK.

Ritualistically bent in the middle of the blade; together with two socketted axeheads, one Roman, one Celtic. 1.25 kg total, 10-60 cm

Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

Rawling's pattern M38 composition tank crew helmet with neck protection plate and ear-flaps, fitted with leather lining with leather and fabric securing straps; finished dark green; with later inked 'CESARE' owner name and '1-5-79' date to liner. 613 grams, 27 cm high

Acquired from Czerny's Auction, lot 81515.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.

Accompanied by copy of a previous invoice and lot description.

Possibly of Italian manufacture of the type used by US forces in WWII.

Comprising a knife bayonet for use with the Second World War 8 mm Mauser Kar 98k rifle; fitted with resin grip scales and spring release button; scabbard with original throat and chape. 588 grams, 40.5 cm

Property of a Luton, UK gentleman, by inheritance.

See Capwell, T., Knives, Daggers and Bayonets, Lorenz, 2009, p.180, for general type and details.

The bayonet offered here is an example of the third pattern of bayonet manufactured in 1927-1930 and again in the period 1934-1935, with this specific example having been produced in 1935. In an attempt to keep their identities a secret, the makers of these weapons stamped the blades with a letter/number code, a practice they repeated for the scabbards. This scabbard bears the code for 1943, although it was double struck. Both blade and scabbard in this instance were produced by E. & F. Horster & Co. of Solingen, and the weapon is apparently a pre-war example that was captured and reworked in eastern Europe, likely Yugoslavia. The plastic grips such as those used on our bayonet, and typically found on M1884/98 III bayonets, are made from a phenolic resin. Owing to a shortage of such resin in Germany during WWII a substitute moulding compound known as type 41, which contained a much lower percentage of resin, was adopted in January 1943.

Comprising three mounts with bounding lion motifs, five heart-shaped mounts also showing leaping lions and a plain semi-circular mount; all with mounting lugs to reverse. 67 grams total, 27-52 mm

From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Cf. Baranov, V.S., Izmaylov, I.L., 'On attribution of a signet ring from Bolgar excavations of 2010' in Archaeology of the Eurasian steppes, no.6, 2019, pp.269-276, for iconography.

Featuring wedge-shaped cheeks, oval socket and narrow butt. 922 grams, 21 cm

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

A leather belt with brass buckles to which are rivetted five leather cartridge holders each with internal retaining strap and cover; the reverse of the belt stamped '2575665'. 591 grams, 90 cm long

The Kusmirek Collection, UK.

The leaf-shaped head with full-length midrib to both faces, tapering round-section socket with piercing for attachment to an organic shaft. 70 grams, 22 cm

Ex Surrey collection, formed 1990-2000.
Acquired from TimeLine Auctions 2016, lot 162 (part).
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.

Composed of a central cylindrical socket with collar to base and gently triangular flanges to upper face, a wedge-shaped adze-head to one side and a wedge-shaped axe head to the other, both with gently convex cutting edges. 1.1 kg, 25 cm

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

The cylindrical shaft decorated with three bosses, blade with diverging edges, the upper sides of the hole and part of the blade decorated with a dotted pattern. 375 grams, 17.5 cmFine condition.

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

See Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003) in Russian, pl.XIX, no.38, from Assur.

The earliest Luristan bronze weapons, particularly daggers, axes, and adzes, share many similarities in form with Mesopotamian artefacts of the 3rd millennium BC. The unadorned weapons, especially the axes, adzes and picks, were made using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds with a core inserted into them to form the socket for the shaft.

Of squat piriform shape with shallow vertical dashes decorating the upper body, stamped triangles above and below. 579 grams, 10.4 cm

Family collection, acquired 1980-2015.
Ex property of a North London gentleman.

Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.

Cf. Arendt, W. I., Granaten des 13-14. Jahrhunderts, die an der Wolga gefunden sind, Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen-und Kostumkunde, 11 (1926-8), p.42; cf. Arendt, W., Die Spharisch-konischen Gefasse aus Gebranntem Ton, ibid; cf. Ayalon, D., Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom, London, 1956, p.16.

Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. Such were the γανωτα, vessels (sometimes also of bronze) used for Greek fire. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.

Featuring an openwork blade stamped with maker's marks on both faces: three punched starburst marks to one face, starburst and cross with two pellets to the reverse; later wooden shaft, collar and rivet. 740 grams, 67 cm

Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

See Wheeler, M., London Museum Medieval Catalogue, reprinted Ipswich, 1993, p.59-65, for discussion.