Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade

Substantial cross pattée with pierced lobes to the vertical arms, each end provided with a link and hook; lateral arms pieced to accept similar links; intended for the suspension of polycandela multiple-candle chandeliers. 1.12 kg, 55.5 cm including hook



Ex Surrey, UK, collection of a gentleman, 1960-2000s.

In 563 A.D., Paul the Silentiary visited Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and described the wondrous lighting effects, ‘Thus is everything clothed in beauty…no words are sufficient to describe the illumination in the evening: you might say that some nocturnal sun filled the majestic church with light.’ The church was lit by polycandela, an early type of candelabra that held glass oil lamps rather than candles. The lamps were either conical or shaped like round bowls with an elongated stem attached beneath. Amidst the burning of incense and the chanting of prayers, the flickering light must have helped to inspire pious devotion. Contemporaries certainly attest to this feeling and among the surviving accounts, that of Arculf, Bishop of Gaul, is particularly affecting. In 670 he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and visited the Church of the Ascension, ‘…to the customary light of the eight lamps…on the night of the feast of the Lord’s Ascension it is usual to add innumerable other lamps; and under the terrible and wondrous gleaming of these, pouring out copiously through the shutters of the windows, all Mount Olivet seems not alone to be illuminated, but even to be on fire, and the whole city, situated on the lower ground nearby, seems to be lit up.’

Discoid in plan with integral stub handle; central Maltese cross with herringbone ring and epigraphic band, radiating dentilled rim; the inscription '+ ΕΥΛΟΓΙΑ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΚΕ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΙΜΙ ΚΕ ΘΟC ΜΕ ΠΑΠΑ' (With the blessing of Lord and God I am with the Father). 495 grams, 12.6 cm wide



From the collection of Sir Daniel Donohue [1919-2014] and the Countess Bernardine [1904-1968], Los Angeles, USA; the collection was assembled in the 1950-1960s, but before March 1968. with Bonhams, London, 13 April 2011, no.310 (part). Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00120713. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12109-218144.

The cross is surrounded by a zig-zag frieze enclosed within a long inscription in medieval Greek, this confirms the use of the seal in a liturgical context. The practice of preparing bread for Holy Eucharist and Antidoron is still in use in the churches of the East.

Central incuse image of a nimbate figure wearing an armour and cloak, holding a staff, text to the border 'IWANNE [...] (=iohannes= John). 1.23 grams, 13 mm



From a late Japanese specialist collector, 1970-2000s.