Luristan Bronze Axehead

Composed of a piriform body with 'feather' design and eccentrically placed domed mouth; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, and used as a hand grenade; chipped foot. 613 grams, 17 cm



Collected before 1970. Ex gallery of C.M., UK. 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.

Comprising a double-edged tapering blade showing shallow fullers and wide cutting edges; boat-shaped lower guard with inlaid vertical copper bands; the upper guard decorated in similar fashion; five-lobed pommel with deep grooves between the lobes, each lobe inlaid with copper bands. 1.05 kg, 90 cm



Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. 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 number no.11592-199910.

It is the decoration and the structure of the sword that suggest classifying it as a type H of Petersen, rather than type R which usually presents a five-lobed pommel. The copper markings are artistically consistent with archaeological examples of decorative work of Viking swords, notably with the one in Suomen Kansallismuseo, Helsinki, published by Peirce (2002, pp.6off.). The decoration, which here takes the form of vertical copper lines, is striped as on the Helsinki specimen.

Featuring a gently curved single-edged iron blade and one-sided fuller, curved handle with knot pommel; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 525 grams total, 35 cm high including stand



Dutch art market. Private collection of K.S., Cologne, Germany, acquired 1996.

One of the military insignia of a Celtic warrior was the war-knife, usually between 33 and 35 cm long. For example, in the collection of Celtic military equipment from Galish-Lovachka, the archaeologists have found a short sword with an X-shaped handle (l = 41 cm), two middle La Tène swords (72.5 and 75 cm long), 12 large curved knives, 27 spearheads, two javelin heads, 14 arrowheads, and nine iron chain belts for hanging a sword. The war-knife was also used for hunting, as a spare weapon, or to cut the throat of an enemy in a surprise attack.