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LOT 0175
Byzantine Gold Ring with Foliate Motifs
CIRCA 11TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (3.65 grams, 19.99 mm overall, 18.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10)).
Comprising a flat-section hoop with a starburst motif to the base; openwork shoulders and a square bezel with a pellet to each corner, the bezel engraved with foliate motifs.
ProvenanceAcquired from London galleries during the 1990s.
From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Đurović, I., Medieval Jewelry from the collections of the Kragujevac National Museum, Kragujevac, 2012, fig.12, p.111, for similar ring.
FootnotesSome rings from the Balkan territories of the Eastern Empire (for example the ring from Dobrača) bear a square thickened bezel engraved with schematic representations. What sets them apart are the widened shoulders emphasised by a plastic rib and the raised and flattened head, which places them in the group of rings which dates mainly to the 11th century (from the end of the 10th to the first decades of the 12th century).
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LOT 0175
Byzantine Gold Ring with Foliate Motifs
Estimate £1,200 - 1,700€1,390 - 1,970 (for guidance only)$1,620 - 2,300 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine Bronze Horse Harness Boss Pendant
15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Large domed centre with low-relief sun wheel design, pellets to the rim and suspension loop above. 28.6 grams, 75 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
In the late Byzantium period, round-shaped buckles and horse harness mounts were often decorated with beaded edges and with floral embossed ornaments, under the influence of the Ottoman Turks. They have the shape of a small shield and impressed decoration of a rose. Belt appliques have an extra boss for attachment, instead of a loop which is usually attached to the horse harness pendants. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Piriform body with impressed ivy-leaf motifs below the shoulder, tiered shoulder, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 815 grams, 14.5 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. -
Byzantine Gold Cross Pendant
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
Square central panel with four radiating arms, bulb finials, pierced suspension lug above, punched pellet-in-triangle motifs to obverse. 3.27 grams, 24 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
