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LOT 0247
Iron Age Celtic La Tene III Sword
1ST CENTURY B.C.
34 1/4 in. (1.5 kg total, 87 cm).
Accompanied by a scabbard with fragments of the slider; the sword with lentoid-section two-edged iron blade, tapering gently to a broad point; slightly bent square-section tang; the fragments of the scabbard show a broad, slender sheath with stepped lower end, the obverse face rolled over the edges to clasp the reverse plate; the suspension elements comprising a fragment of the transverse bars clasping the front and back plates connected to vertical flared straps with a stepped slider-loop to the centre, once framed by two more similar bars with vertical straps forming a hollow square in which the slider-loop sits; mounted on a wall display mount.
ProvenancePrivate collection, Munich, Germany, 1970s.
Private collection, London, UK, 2014, acquired from the above.
Cf. similar specimens in Tasic, N., Scordisci, and the native population in the Middle Danube Region, Belgrade, 1992, nos.56-59, and especially no.59.
FootnotesCeltic swords of this period were longer, reaching one meter in length, with the tip having the tendency to be rounded, while the scabbards were less decorated or more simply ornamented than the swords of the previous period.
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Egg-shaped ceramic vessel with domed filler-hole, impressed rings and raised vertical flanges to the shoulder; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 565 gram, 13 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s. 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. -
German WWI Erfurt 'Butcher' Bayonet
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Featuring a fullered blade with wood-scale hilt and press-release stud; stamped with a maker's mark and issue date. 557 grams, 50.2 cm
Acquired from The Lanes Armoury, Brighton, UK. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. Accompanied by a Lanes Armoury certificate of authenticity. -
Post Medieval Iron Sword Group
18th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Comprising military and civilian weapons: short rapier; basket hilted sword; sabre seemingly with scabbard; rapier blade. 3.45 kg total, 62-100 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The two sabres, with the particular hilt and steel scabbard, seems to have affinities with Hungarian sabres of about 1837-1838, destined to staff and senior officers of the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom Hussars. At the end of the 1830s, the Austrian military leaders introduced a new type of sabre for the Hussar officers, while the 1837 infantry officer sabre was standardised.
