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_900x900.jpg "Hellenistic Bronze Armour Section with Herakles Fighting Hydra")
_200x200.jpg "Hellenistic Bronze Armour Section with Herakles Fighting Hydra")
.jpg "Hellenistic Bronze Armour Section with Herakles Fighting Hydra")
LOT 0301
Hellenistic Bronze Armour Section with Herakles Fighting Hydra
CIRCA 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
1 3/8 - 6 7/8 in. (122 grams total, 3.4-17.5 cm).
Comprising an embossed fragment of a breast-plate from muscle-type armour (thorax statos) representing Herakles fighting against the Hydra of Lerna; three-quarters of the hero's body preserved showing him naked in a dynamic position, wearing a fluttering short cloak (chlamys), overlooking the body of the monster of which the long tail covered with scales and fins is visible; fragment of cloak preserved separately. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired on the French art market before 2000.
From an EU collection before 2020.
See Marazov, I., Thracian Warrior, Sofia, 2005, p.55, for a cheek-piece with Herakles in identical position; see also parallels with the warriors of the Panagyuriste treasure, pp.115-116; and Herakles against the Amazons in the Rogozen treasure; for similar elements on a bronze anatomical cuirass from Siris (BM) see D'Amato, R., Negin, A., Roman Decorated Armour, from the Age of the Kings to the death of Justinian the Great, Barnsley, 2017, p.46, fig.43.
FootnotesThis kind of armour is very rare, especially for this period, when most of the attested armour is plain or only slightly decorated. The young Herakles appears in heroic nudity running to the right, but, as on the cheek-piece from Gurlo, his head was probably turned in the opposite direction. The plasticism of the scene finds a good match in the Thracian tradition of the representation of weapons and armour, and the embossed elements with the highly prized work of the Panagyurishte treasure. The warrior-theme and the representation of Herakles or other fighting scenes on the Thracian and Hellenistic armours was a reference to the spirit of the immortal fighter.
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LOT 0301
Hellenistic Bronze Armour Section with Herakles Fighting Hydra
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
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Chinese and Greek Bronze Arrowhead Group
Circa 3rd century B.C.-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Comprising two triangular-section Greek arrowheads; a gilt triangular-section arrowhead with short tubular socket. 18.9 grams total, 24-40 mm
Acquired in the 1980s-1990s. Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
Circa 11th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £144
With a piriform body and domed mouth with two indented lines decorating the mid section; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 964 grams, 15.5 cm high
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. 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 Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. Such were the γανωτα, vessels (sometimes also in bronze) used for Greek fire. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Luristan Bronze Axehead
12th-11th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
With elliptical socket and slightly flaring cheeks with cutting edge. 939 grams, 17.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The axe corresponds to the Maxwell-Hyslop Type 20A, similar to specimens from Ordu and purely Asiatic in inspiration. An axe from Giyan has a distinct shaft tube which is not present on the Ordu axe, but the shape of the blade is similar and it is probable that smiths travelling over the Eastern Anatolian and Persian trade routes were responsible for making these typologies of axes.
