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LOT 1395
Greek Lead Slingshot
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/4 in. (32.8 grams, 30 mm).
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved legend 'ΦIΛONOC = of Philon (name)'; scorpion on the other side. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market before 2000.
Private collection, Munich, Germany.
Cf. Manov, M., Torbov, N., 'Inscribed Lead Sling Bullets with the name of Alexander the Great and with other names and symbols found in Thrace' in Archaeologia Bulgarica, XX, 2, pp.29-43, fig.23, for similar.
FootnotesOn these sling bullets the image of a scorpion could be understood to depict an action ‘sting like a scorpion’. The name of Filon can be connected with a military commander.
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AUCTIONS:
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Byzantine Decorated Bronze Archer's Thumb Ring
5th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
With horizontal ribbing, triangular flange extension with hatched detailing. 2.92 grams, 28.41 mm overall, 17.62 x 16.16 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)
From a private Tyneside collection, formed since the early 2000s. -
Greek Lead Slingshot
3rd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved legend 'ΛY-P-N' = maybe ΛYKOΦ-PONO = Lykophronos (name). 25.6 grams, 31 mm
Acquired on the German art market before 2000. Private collection, Munich, Germany.
The leaden bullets, which were thrown from slings, were called in Greek molivdainai (μολύβδαιναι), and in Latin glandes; the former indicating the material ‘lead’, the latter the shape ‘acorns’. These bullets were cast in a mould and bore letters or devices, or both, on two sides or on only one. In form they were more like an almond than an acorn, but many are pointed at both ends. -
Saxon Sacrificed Iron Spatha with Bronze Chape
5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Double-edged long sword (spatha) of type Osterburken-Kemathen; the blade with squared shoulders, broken into two parts for sacrificial reasons, tapering towards the point; sturdy tang partially preserved; wooden traces of the scabbard and hilt still visible; accompanied by a bronze outer rim of a scabbard; restored. 630 grams total, 78 cm long
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
The deliberate fragmentation of a sword, often into three pieces, was a symbolic act of ‘killing’ the weapon, which was then placed as a grave good or offered in a ceremonial context. This was a Germanic custom already visible in the Vandal Przeworsk culture around the 3rd or 4th century A.D., which continued in Northern European areas until the 5th and the 6th centuries A.D.
