Carved with soft facial features and carefully executed cosmetic lines around the eye, earring, and carefully detailed duplex wig with gently wavy curls; likely from the Ramesside Period; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club resting on his shoulder and the hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath the Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Carved head of a prepubescent worshipper of Isis, with soft facial features, long nose, small downturned mouth, heavy-lidded eyes, the whole giving the face a sombre or mournful appearance; the hair textured to indicate a short cut and combed forward across the scalp, sidelock above the right ear; mounted on a 16th century carved breccia upper body with leather cuirass and pteruges to right shoulder, cloak draped across the shoulders and fastened at the clavicle on the right side with a disc-brooch; socle base; some restoration.

Modelled in the round and originally part of a monumental statue, the naturalistic right foot encased in a trochades leather sandal with median reversed tongue secured with side straps and thick looped laces; the thick platform sole slightly curved, toes and nails well defined; mounted on a substantial custom-made display stand.

Modelled in the half-round, nude with eyelids half-closed in sleep; a drapery partly covering the head and wrapping around the lower body under the hips; the hairstyle similar to those of the Antonine Dynasty, the peaceful face supported by the hands and the ear pierced to accept an earring; iron reinforcing rod to the feet and the right arm's armilla a later replacement; upper head restored in Parian marble.

An imposing panel divided to four sections by a central cross on a stepped pedestal, the lower and upper arm with branch-like extensions; the upper quadrants with a circlet surrounding a palm tree-shaped motif; each lower quadrant with a bird in profile facing back; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Carved skull on a short neck with musculature and blood vessels; mandible in place with some teeth in sockets, wisps of hair adhering to the dome of the skull; one zygomatic bone partly absent; square-section socle base.

Carved in the half-round head of a Bodhisattva (probably Maitreya) with fine detailing to the arched brow, aquiline nose, neat moustache and full lips; the eyes heavily lidded, urna to the forehead, long open lobes to the ears; the hair in multi-stranded curling locks gathered into an ushnisha with brow-band below; heavily cleaned, conserved, and mounted on a custom-made stand; supplied with original old wooden base with collector's label: 'Head of Bodhisattva / Fine grain schist / Gandhara, Northwest Pakistan / 4th century'.

Square in plan and with chamfered edges, small bale; low-relief design of a voided cross flanked by curlicues above two voided gamma characters with points. 81.9 grams, 37 mm



UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.

With a slender hoop and discoid bezel, intaglio motif of a standing dove facing right. 1.90 grams, 20.12 mm overall, 15.42 x 17.65 mm internal diameter (approximate size British I, USA 4 1/4, Europe 7.44, Japan 7)



Private collection formed since the 1940s. UK art market. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.

Piriform body with domed filler-hole, three rows of impressed ring-and-dot motifs to the upper body; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 460 grams, 11.4 cm



From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 1990s onwards. 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'.

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. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.

Cross pattée pendant with ring-and-dot ornament on a string of black glass beads. 11.3 grams, 42 cm long



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

Piriform body with domed filler-hole forming the centre of a flower with radiating petals; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 449 grams, 10.1 cm



From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 1990s onwards. 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'.

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. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.

Piriform body with domed filler-hole, band of rosettes within circles to the shoulder; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 260 grams, 92 mm



From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 1990s onwards. 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'.

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. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.

Mainly comprising ornamental buckles and mounts, including openwork and zoomorphic examples. 115 grams total, 28-71 mm



Acquired in London in 1982. Property of a central London gentleman.

Modelled as a two-handled amphora with decorative bands to the body. 25.3 grams, 54 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Composed of a slender carinated hoop adorned with filigree supporting a hollow-formed star-shaped bezel set with central polished cabochon garnet and granules, each of six arms pierced, remaining granule to one shoulder. 1.76 grams, 23.61 mm overall, 20.80 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S 1/2, USA 9 1/4, Europe 20.63, Japan 19)



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

Rectangular belt-buckle plaque with hinge knuckles and slotted rear; low-relief panel with advancing lion motif. 11.7 grams, 40 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Comprising an L-shaped body with integral loop and fan-shaped finial perpendicular to the body; one side with incised crossed and the other with Christogram. 5.2 grams, 43 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Comprising: a cross bottony with integral loop; a plain flat-section cross with curved loop; a flat-section cross with incised lines to each arm and a central x-motif; a cross with bud finial to each arm with rosette motif. 15.88 grams total, 29-37 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.