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LOT 1651
Luristan Bronze Spearhead Group
13TH-11TH CENTURY B.C.
10 1/4 - 11 1/4 in. (300 grams total, 26.2-28.7 cm).
Comprising a tanged spearhead with heavily ridged and tapered blade, short collared shaft and square-section tapered tang bent at the tip; a spearhead with foliate narrow blade, short tang with fastening hole.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.
See Khorasani M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, items 279,282, for the types.
FootnotesBoth types of spearheads were found in Amlash and Marlik, and are connected with the types 1 and 2 of the Khorasani classification. The type 1 is characterised by a bent tang and 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.
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LOT 1651
Luristan Bronze Spearhead Group
Estimate £100 - 140€120 - 160 (for guidance only)$140 - 190 (for guidance only)
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Luristan Bronze Sword
Late 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
With solid cast hilt and penannular guard, a massive grip with a later mushroom pommel, blade with central flat midrib tapering to a sharp tip. 967 grams, 52.5 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 sword is typical of the North-Western Iranian regions at the end of 2nd millennium B.C. Corresponding specimens found in Amarlu or other localities (Gheshlag Mazandaran Province) show that they were fitted with hollow-cast bronze mushroom pommels. The hilt was solid cast with penannular guard, and the blade was usually multi-fullered, but the specimen from Northern Iran published by Khorasani is fitted with a single fuller like our sword. -
Western Asiatic Decorated Bronze Pectoral Collar
12th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,430
Broad sheet-bronze halter-shaped collar with dentilled outer edge, in two offset overlapped layers; bands of repoussé domed pellets to the outer and inner edges, rectangular cells to accept glass or organic inserts, two clusters of circular cells surrounding rectangular ones; the surface with dense hatching and reserved tendril and leaf motifs; attachment loops to reverse. 638 grams, 34.5 cm
German art market. European private collection, 1970s-early 2000s. Acquired from the above; thence by descent. Private collection, London. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12282-221445. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Biconvex in profile with tall neck and domed mouth, deformed when the clay was still wet. 1.1 kg total, 13 cm
From a specialist London, UK, arms and armour 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'. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
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. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.
