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LOT 1068
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
4 3/4 in. (535 grams, 11.9 cm).
Piriform body with domed filler-hole, raised vertical flanges to the shoulder; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
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'.
Cf. Arendt, W. I., Granaten des 13-14. Jahrhunderts, die an der Wolga gefunden sind, Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen-und Kostumkunde, 11 (1926-8), p.42; cf. Arendt, W., Die Spharisch-konischen Gefasse aus Gebranntem Ton, ibid; cf. Ayalon, D., Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom, London, 1956, p.16.
FootnotesApart 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. Such were the γανωτα, vessels (sometimes also of bronze) used for Greek fire. 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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LOT 1068
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
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Luristan Bronze Dirk
10th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
With triangular blade and flat mid-rib, flanged hilt for the insert of a wood or bone inlay, hilt with expanded guard and crescent-shaped pommel. 474 grams, 43.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
This type of dirk belongs to the type III of Medvedskaya classification and is very common among daggers and dirks attributed to Luristan. The same scholar suggests that the dating for the whole series of type III daggers is an inscription on a type III dirk with the name of Marduk Nadin Ahhe (1100-1083 B.C.). -
Luristan Bronze Horse Bit
9th-8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
The cheekpieces formed as winged deer with horns and small ears, a circular opening to the body for the bar to pass through, two loops and studs to the reverse; the bar with looped circular terminals. 543 grams, 17.5 cm
Ex old English collection. London art market, pre 2000. Property of a Lonodon, UK, gentleman.
The most admirable horse bits ever created by man are undoubtedly those from Luristan, a province which extended along the valleys that make up the central part of the Zagros mountains. Worked in cast bronze with the lost wax process, they almost always had a rigid cannon in round or square bars which were flattened and rolled up around themselves at the ends, but their exceptional feature were the figural side bars. The local metalsmiths, in a period of time between 1200 and 700 B.C. managed to create an infinite number of typologies: horses, oxen, ibex, roosters and various mythological animals. -
Roman Bronze Armour Segments
2nd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Comprising four interlocking tongue-shaped segments from a lorica squamata; each with double piercing on the top and the two side edges. 4.4 grams, 45 mm
Ex North American private collection. Acquired privately on the European art market in the 1990s. Property of a Buckinghamshire, UK, gentleman.
