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LOT 1518
Luristan Decorated Bronze Macehead
900-800 B.C.
4 1/8 in. (360 grams, 10.4 cm).
With a slender, scooped blade, a round socket with a ribbed outer flange; three lobed extensions to the rear of the socket with low-relief decorative bands and zigzags, collar to mouth.
ProvenanceUK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Private collection, London, UK.
See Engel, N. & Overlaet, B. et al., Bronzes de Luristan, enigmes de l'Iran Ancien, IIIe-Ier millenaire av.J.C., Paris, 2008, cat.8-12, pp.73ff, for type.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1518
Luristan Decorated Bronze Macehead
Estimate £600 - 800€700 - 930 (for guidance only)$810 - 1,080 (for guidance only)
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Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Including barbed-and-tanged, leaf-shaped, spade-shaped and other types. 339 grams total, 7.9-14 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Ovoid in profile with a rounded base, a band of ring-and-dot motifs on the shoulder and radiating indentations on the base; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 783 grams, 14.7 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. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Spearhead
9th-7th century B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £75
Comprising a leaf-shaped blade with a midrib and a long tapering socket; accompanied by a display stand, repaired. 365 grams total, spearhead: 36.5 cm (38.2 cm including stand)
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
The spear, belonging to type 3 of the Khorasani classification, was used by chariot fighters to strike each other or the enemy infantry from above. Similar specimens with longer sockets were excavated by Negahban in the Amlash area. According to Moorey, sockets as long, if not longer than the blade, are a characteristic of Iranian spearheads in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium B.C. A similar spearhead from the Tappeh Sialk has been dated to the 9th-7th century B.C.
