Loading, please wait...
LOT 1432
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
16 5/8 in. (331 grams, 42.3 cm).
Triangular in profile with rounded shoulders and thick square-section mid-rib running to the tip; short flared neck and square-section tang.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armor from Iran: The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, p.628, no.275, for type.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 1432
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
-
Western Asiatic Integral Hilted Bronze Short Sword
Late 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With a broad, lentoid-section flat blade, rounded tip, sloping sides, well marked shoulders with wide but short tang. 713 grams, 43.5 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 sword finds similarity with a one from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. This is the most primitive form of dagger, consisting of a simple, pointed blade having slightly convex outline shoulders sloping to a short tang which has no rivets, and was probably hafted to wood with bitumen. -
Eastern Roman Tinned Bronze Composite Belt Mount
8th century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Displaying openwork floriate decoration within a tongue-shaped frame; two pierced attachment lugs to the rear. 27.9 grams, 93 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
The belt is of composite type, decorated with scrollwork in Byzantine style. Many authors discuss the possibility that these belts were produced in the Eastern Roman capital or that they were made in the workshops of the Avar Khaganate, maybe with Roman matrices for producing sheet ornaments. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Ovoid in profile with pointillé and linear decoration, domed filler hole; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 389 grams, 98 mm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. 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. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.
