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LOT 1482
Greek Bronze Tri-Finned Arrowhead Collection
CIRCA 7TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
7/8 - 1 3/4 in. (77 grams total, 23-46 mm).
Comprising: seven arrowheads with a slender, lozenge-shaped blade and a socket extending near the tip, base of the socket with a side lug; eight socketted bronze arrowheads, mainly triangular or foliate in section, trilobate and with short socket. [15, No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.
Cf. Sekunda, N., Marathon 490 BC, The first Persian invasion of Greece, Oxford, 2002, p.60; Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, for similar arrowheads from Eurasian sites (plate XLIV, figs.19, 31, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 51, 71).
FootnotesThe Scythians were famous for their archery abilities, and were often employed as mercenaries. The Athenian tyrant Pisistratus hired them and they participated in battles beside the Athenian phalanx as well as serving as a police corps keeping order within the city of Athens. This explains the great range of Scythian arrowheads found on the Greek sites.
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AUCTIONS:
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Viking Age and Later Iron Axehead Group
10th-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Mainly comprising socketted axeheads and adzes, together with other items; including at least one stamped with maker's marks. 9.5 kg total, 14.5-28.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
An axe similar to those of our group was found in the fortified camp of Péran, in Brittany, among the objects that emerged from a conflagration due to the attack of Alain Barbetorte's Bretons on a Viking camp, in 936 A.D. These axes were certainly work tools, although in case of necessity they could also serve as improvised weapons. -
Medieval Iron Caltrop Anti-Cavalry Group
13th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Comprising ten anti-cavalry caltrops, hand-forged with square-section spikes. 536 grams total, 72-98 mm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
Caltrops were scattered on battlefields in an effort to stop or slow advancing enemy cavalry or foot soldiers; regardless of how a caltrop lands, one spike is always facing upwards. -
Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
A long tapering cylindrical missile with raised ribs to the shoulder and carination above, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 454 grams, 18 cm
From a military inspired collection formed from the 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.
