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LOT 0250
Elamite Bronze Dagger with Decorated Hilt
2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
9 5/8 in. (165 grams, 24.5 cm).
Leaf-shaped blade with a separately cast hilt; blade tapering to a point, incised with three lines of incised linear decoration; hilt with flared guard, pierced with a pin and with a raised geometric pattern.
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market, 1990s.
Private collection, New York, USA.
Cf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran - The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, p.375, Cat.2, inventory no.668, for type.
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AUCTIONS:
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Piriform body with tiered neck and domed filler-hole; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 788 grams, 15.1 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s. 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. -
Elamite Bronze Dagger with Decorated Hilt
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Leaf-shaped blade with a separately cast hilt; blade tapering to a point, incised with three lines of incised linear decoration; hilt with flared guard, pierced with a pin and with a raised geometric pattern. 165 grams, 24.5 cm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA. -
Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Piriform in profile with a stepped neck, incised decoration and three raised lugs; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 427 grams, 14.8 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s. 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.
