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LOT 0318
Greek Iron Short Sword
HELLENISTIC, 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.
22 in. (400 grams, 56 cm).
Lentoid in section with two cutting edges and narrow point; slight flare towards the tip; small shoulder and rectangular-section tang.
ProvenanceEx German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
See Esposito, G. Armies of the Hellenistic States 323 BC to AD 30. Stroud, 2019 for discussion; Cf. British Museum accession no. 1868,1025.98 for similar (with hilt intact).
FootnotesThis style of straight, parallel-sided weapon is referred to in Greek sources of the time as a xiphe. It was a secondary battlefield armament after the spear and javelin. It is associated with the revolutionary developments in armour, weaponry and tactics between the Classical and Iron Age periods.
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Luristan Bronze Socketted Axehead
3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Circular socket and a slender triangular-section blade with a curving cutting edge. 691 grams, 15 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
This is an example of socketted axes with plano-convex blade, variant H2Cd of Gernez classification. Unadorned weapons, especially axes, adzes and picks, were made by Luristan craftsmen using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds. Typically, the metallic composition consisted of a combination of arsenical bronze and copper, together with a small percentage of lead. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Large ovoid body with impressed decoration and raised shoulder on one side; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 970 grams, 16 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. -
Migration Period Iron Sword with Jewelled Hilt
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,980
Comprising: a spatha-type two-edged tapering blade, lentoid in section with sloped shoulders and short tang pierced by an attachment rivet for the grip; traces to both faces of the blade of wooden fibre from the scabbard; edges lightly notched but substantially complete; the lower guard rectangular in plan and scaphoid in section with inset garnet cloisons, triangular along the lower row and heart-shaped above, rectangular at the top, with small rectangular slivers at each end; accompanied by the upper roundel of the pommel, set with four garnet cloisons. 954 grams, 84.5 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. 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 no. 12357-225921. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
These ‘ceremonial’ swords (in reality widely used in battle) with an inlaid guard are, according to Kazanski, Late Roman in origin. The cloisonné decoration was probably linked with the production of particularly ornamented swords in the ateliers of the Roman capital of Constantinople. This typology of weapon was not only produced as a gift for foreign chiefs allied to the empire, but it was also adopted by the Imperial army, and reserved for the Imperial officers, who were often of Germanic or Asiatic origin.
