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LOT 0172
Byzantine Porphyry Relief with Cross Surrounded by Two Birds
SOUTHERN ITALY OR CONSTANTINOPLE, 11TH CENTURY A.D.
17 1/2 in. (16 kg total, 44.5 cm including stand).
An imposing panel divided to four sections by a central cross on a stepped pedestal, the lower and upper arm with branch-like extensions; the upper quadrants with a circlet surrounding a palm tree-shaped motif; each lower quadrant with a bird in profile facing back; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenancePrivate collection, London, UK.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12179-221676.
Cf. Mendel, G., Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines, Constantinople, 1914, nos.724 (929), vol.II, p.520; 1329 (2463), vol.III, p.537, for type.
FootnotesThe cross, symbol of resurrection and salvation, carried the meaning of Paradise, and a cross on a stepped base derived from that on Golgotha. The birds represented here are probably a symbol of joy of the afterlife, of paradise conceived as the locus refrigerii or refrigerium of the soul. The panel could have been part of a marble iconostasis of a Church of the Eastern Roman Empire, in Southern Italy, although the use of porphyry can suggest a Constantinopolitan provenance.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0172
Byzantine Porphyry Relief with Cross Surrounded by Two Birds
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
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Byzantine Decorated Bronze Weight
Circa 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Square in plan and with chamfered edges, small bale; low-relief design of a voided cross flanked by curlicues above two voided gamma characters with points. 81.9 grams, 37 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. -
Byzantine Bronze Cross with Black Glass Beads
5th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Cross pattée pendant with ring-and-dot ornament on a string of black glass beads. 11.3 grams, 42 cm long
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Piriform body decorated from concentric circles, with domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 1.01 kg, 15 cm
Acquired 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'.
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.
