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LOT 1546
Greek Lead Slingshot with Inscription
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/8 in. (39.1 grams, 29 mm).
Lenticular type with casting seam to the rim, raised legend 'ΛΥΣΙΑ' (commander's name, Lisia) on one side. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Cf. for a similar bullet (different inscription) Tsaravopoulos, A., ‘Evidence of war in a Pirates ’City of the Hellenistic Period (Island Antikythera/Aigilia Greece)’ in Sirbu, V., Schuster, C., Hortopan, D., Warriors and their weapons in Bronze and Iron Ages, Proceedings of the 21st International Colloquium of Funerary Archaeology 25th-28th May, 2023, Târgu Jiu, Gorj County (Romania), Braila, 2023, pp.301-320, fig.18; for bullets with the same inscription see Özenir, S.A., 'Some inscribed Lead Sling Bullets from Miletos' in Epigraphica Anatolica 50, 2017, pp.167-178, figs.51-53.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1546
Greek Lead Slingshot with Inscription
Estimate £60 - 80€70 - 93 (for guidance only)$81 - 108 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Estimate: £80 - 100 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Ovoid body with pointed base and domed filler-hole; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 510 grams, 11.9 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. -
Luristan Socketted Bronze Axe Head Sar-e Tabar
Circa 2200-1600 B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
Comprising a wide curving blade and long neck with a band of herringbone decoration at the base, tubular neck with claw-like extension to the rear and a decorative diagonal band to both sides. 308 grams, 10.6 cm
Acquired on the Swiss art market, 1997. Private collection, Europe.
Similar examples of axeheads were produced in Luristan, and early parallels date back to 2200 B.C. They have moulding bands at the base, and the shaft is often crosshatched, showing different lozenge-shaped figures. -
Western Asiatic Polished Stone Macehead
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £80 - 100 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £44
Ovoid body with circular socket. 435 grams, 86 mm
From the collection of a London, UK, gentleman, 1990s.
