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LOT 1513
Hellenistic Bronze Cuirass Section
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
9 in. (220 grams, 23 cm).
Possibly the upper right back element of a composite cuirass for a cataphract (armoured horseman), part of the edge around the neck and shoulders preserved, iron rivets and holes for attaching the shoulder straps still visible. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK private collection, acquired in 1996.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. Connolly, P., Greece and Rome at War, London, 2006, fig.p.56, top right, for the typology of armour.
FootnotesA near complete armour for cataphract was found in the French excavations in Al-Khanoum, a Hellenistic city in Afghanistan. The cavalry of Seleucid, Ptolemaic and other Hellenistic Kingdoms formed regiments of heavy armoured horsemen, who in the west, employed a combination of lamellar and segmented armour together with muscled armour of Greek type. Cataphract armour in the West had more Greek element, for example more plate armour and less scale and lamellar.
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AUCTIONS:
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Greek Bronze Cuirass Section of Thorax Stadios
4th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Possibly the lower left side element of a cavalry armour of thorax stadios (muscled armour) typology, upper, lower and external side with well preserved edge, fastening holes visible. 250 grams, 22 cm
UK private collection, acquired in 1996. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Armour for cavalrymen in classical Greece were specially designed with these characteristics. They were very broad on the hips to enable their wearers to sit a horse. Important parallels are known from South Italy, one of them preserved in the Bari Museum. -
Luristan Socketted Bronze Axe Head
12th-8th century B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £225
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. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Massive Amlash Bronze Spearhead Blade
13th-12th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
With large ovate blade, broad midrib, rounded shoulders and rectangular-section tang with bent tip ending with a button. 370 grams, 42.5 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.
The massive spearhead belongs to type 1 of the Khorasani classification. Similar excavated examples from Marlik attest the use of such spearheads with bent tang in the area, and Stutzinger dated such weapons to 1200-1100 B.C. The type was the evolution of a typology which began much earlier in Mesopotamia and the fertile crescent, the type 4 of the Stronach classification, with straight square-section tang, usually thickened at the base with a button tang.
