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LOT 0214
Byzantine Bronze Empress Mount
5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/4 in. (192 grams, 97 mm).
Formed in the half-round as a youthful female bust, a cross in the middle of the high hair arrangement (propoloma).
ProvenanceEx law professor in Alexandria, prior to 1930.
Ex collection of M. Bouvier, Switzerland (1901-1980).
Private collection, UK.
Cf. Bogdanović, J., Sinkević, I., Mihaljević, M., Marinkovic, C., Series: Art and Material Culture in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, Leiden-New York, 2023, figs.1.6,1.7, for bronze busts of empresses; cf Wamser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Östliches Erbe, München, 2004, fig.355, for a 6th-7th century A.D. Roman example of a tripod with busts.
FootnotesThe image of the Roman empress during the late Roman Empire was connected to Christianity by the figure of the Empress Helena. Constantine had several cities renamed Helenopolis in honour of his mother, Helena, and she gained the political verification of power with the status nobilissima femina in 318 A.D. and the rank of Augusta in 324 A.D. Alongside her social and political image, Helena also had a significant reputation as a good Christian who was a patron and took care of poor people. Owing to this powerful religious image that was created, all other Christian women during the Eastern Roman Empire were encouraged spiritually by the fact that Helena was the mother of the first Christian emperor, and the image of the Roman empress was connected to the Christian image of the Mother of God, and represented on weights, bronze appliques and, in this case, maybe as an upper mount of a tripod.
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LOT 0214
Byzantine Bronze Empress Mount
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine Lead Pilgrim's Head Holy Water Ampulla
Circa 6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Moulded ampulla formed as a head with a short pointed beard, aquiline nose, scalplock; open to the underside of the neck. 26.18 grams, 37 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Western Asiatic Calligraphic Gemstone Group
19th-20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Each with chamfered edges and dense panel of calligraphic text. 9.3 grams total, 19-25 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Piriform in profile with an undecorated body; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 484 grams, 12.5 cm
From a specialist collection, London, UK, 1990-2000s. 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.
