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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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Luristan Bronze Dirk
10th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
With triangular blade and flat mid-rib, flanged hilt for the insert of a wood or bone inlay, hilt with expanded guard and crescent-shaped pommel. 474 grams, 43.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
This type of dirk belongs to the type III of Medvedskaya classification and is very common among daggers and dirks attributed to Luristan. The same scholar suggests that the dating for the whole series of type III daggers is an inscription on a type III dirk with the name of Marduk Nadin Ahhe (1100-1083 B.C.). -
Luristan Short Sword Blade
Circa 13th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
With a broad, lentoid-section blade and wide raised flange down centre, rounded tip, straight sides, well marked shoulders with narrow tang, one hole for rivet to attach an organic hilt; mounted on a custom-made stand. 880 grams total, 38 cm wide including stand
Acquired 1980-1990s. From the private collection of H.N., Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK.
This kind of weapon was used in the early 2nd millennium B.C. in Mesopotamia and in Syria and as late as the mid-first millennium in Luristan. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Piriform body with domed filler-hole; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 434 grams, 12.4 cm
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 corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. Such were the γανωτα, vessels (sometimes also of 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.
