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LOT 0168
Arab-Byzantine Bronze Casket with Crosses and Naskh Inscription
13TH-14TH CENTURY A.D.
5 5/8 in. (959 grams, 14.3 cm).
Rectangular in plan with tapering sides and flared stub feet; separate lid with chamfered sides; sidewalls decorated with low-relief border of knotwork surrounding roundels with geometric and floral ornament, with a cross motif above and below; iron securing strips to the lid and side; underside with knotwork panel.
ProvenanceUK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0168
Arab-Byzantine Bronze Casket with Crosses and Naskh Inscription
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
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Byzantine Gilt Bronze Decorated Buckle
6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Comprising: buckle loop with dentilled outer edge, impressed triangular cells; D-section tongue curved over the forward edge of the loop, with rectangular shield to the rear with slot; plate formed as a vesica-shaped rear panel with rosette motif and billetted border, forward edge with cells flanking; knop finial to rear edge; obverse with three pierced lugs for attachment to the belt; ferrous hinge-pin. 56 grams, 80 mm
Private UK collection. Acquired in the 1980s. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman. -
Byzantine Stone Jewellery Mould
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Fitted with two channels running to a central circlet with the image of a saint cavalryman in the centre, surrounded by Greek letters A, O, O, E, C, OS, E, O; small holes to three of the corners for insertion of pegs. 136 grams, 79 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
Plates from mid-period jewellery moulds (10th-12th centuries) with the imprint of the jewellery to be made carved into one or both of the surfaces (earrings, buckles, clasps, beads of necklaces, etc.) were usually made of graphite schist, or other rocks. The plates were bound together in twos or threes by lead pins and the liquid metal was injected via conical openings. Similar tools were found in the 10th-12th levels of Thessaloniki. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
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.
