Greek Slingshot with Thunderbolt

Including leaf-shaped, ribbed, triangular and other tanged types. 407 grams total, 11.3-15.2 cm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Comprising: five triangular arrowheads with barbed shoulders and rounded midrib; four narrow arrowheads with barbed corners; one foliate arrowhead with rectangular shaft and short tang. 115 grams total, 50-90 mm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Most arrowheads belong to the type V of the Khorasani classification: subtype C and A, arrowheads with triangular shape with barbed shoulders and convex sides, and a raised midrib with a sharp central line. These types of arrowheads were commonly used in Anatolia and Mesopotamia from the 2nd millennium B.C., but apparently their employment began earlier in this area, where types like these occur alongside the non-barbed, predominantly ribbed and tanged types.

A two-edged spatha type with a lentoid parallel-sided blade, sloped shoulders and short tang pierced by an attachment rivet for the grip; the bronze lower guard rectangular in plan and scaphoid in section with inset garnet cloisonné in gold cells with rhomboid patterns alternating with circles; the upper top roundel of the pommel or insertion of the hanging stone divided into four gold cells in garnet cloisonné; accompanied by a barrel-shaped polished hilt stone. 696 grams, 74 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. 12586-240319. 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.

The sword is a Migration Period sword which usually had stones hanging from the pommel or hilt, like the one preserved here, which finds a parallel with the sword of Lord of Morken (Strassmeir, 2019, p.55, lett.G). This typology was widespread in Central Europe by the Huns and there are also specimens attested in Gaul and Spain in the 5th century.