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LOT 1485
Amlash Bronze Figural Pendant
CIRCA 10TH CENTURY B.C.
3 3/4 in. (74 grams, 97 mm).
Fertility figure with openwork decoration, loop arms suspending pendants formed as slender figurative horned animals; suspension loop to reverse and cage-style torso. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.
See The Virtual Museum of Iran Art, 'bronze openwork statue of a fertility Idol, ca 1000 BC', for a comparable figure.
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Medieval Iron Macehead
Circa 12th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Displaying shallow striations running diagonally around the body; cylindrical socket. 133 grams, 41 mm
Private collection, Arundel, West Sussex, UK, 1975-late 1990s. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Piriform body with domed filler-hole, the upper body with rows of circular indentations; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 478 grams, 10.5 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. -
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Arab 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Piriform body decorated with concentric circles inside a pointed star pattern, with domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 610 grams, 11.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The Arabs, following the Roman examples, made great use of these weapons. The efficiency of the weapon appears, for example, from the account of the siege of Akka in 1189, given by the contemporary historian Ibn al-Athir. He tells how the Christians exercised their engineering skill and built mighty beffroys. The situation was hopeless for the defending Arabs until a man from Damascus showed up, because he knew how to produce Greek Fire: ‘To trick the Christians he first threw some vesseIs with naptha and other things, which were not set on fire, upon one of the beffroy’s, and it was without power. The Christians...climbed the top of the beffroy...the man from Damascus waited until the contents of the vessels were spread all over. When the moment came, he threw a new pot, which was set on fire. In a few moments the fire was spread all over, and the beffroy was eaten up by the flames. The fire was spread in such a hurry that the Christians could not manage to climb down from the beffroy. Men, weapons, everything was eaten up by the flames.’
