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LOT 1522
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
16 5/8 in. (643 grams, 42.2 cm).
Foliate blade with a central rib and slender shoulders, short rectangular shaft and tang with a bent finial.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
LiteratureCf. Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron, ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, no.176, for the type.
FootnotesA number of similar blades, some considered to be spearheads and others to be daggers, all with a bent tang, derived from Tepe Hissar Culture III. Some of them, like our specimen, have a button terminal, and some others have a plain, pointed terminal. The general dating of these specimens is fixed to the early 2nd millennium B.C.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1522
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
Estimate £400 - 600€460 - 700 (for guidance only)$540 - 810 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
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Ovoid in profile with a rounded base, a circumferential band around the neck; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 650 grams, 11.8 cm
From a specialist collection, London, UK, 1990-2000s. 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. -
North-West Persian Bronze Blade
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Long blade with a pronounced mid-rib, openwork tubular hilt, crescentic guard. 310 grams, 37.2 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
In these daggers, the hilts were cast in the lost wax process, while the blades were cast in a mould. The openwork was cast in the original wax, and after casting was inlaid with a cream-coloured stone, which survives in some examples.
