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LOT 1355
Luristan Sar-e Gorz Bronze Macehead
14TH-13TH CENTURY B.C.
2 3/4 in. (279 grams, 70 mm high).
With plain globular body, extended to a small raised ring encircling the top of the mace-head, circular short shaft expanding to a circular flat base.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
For similar examples of maces see Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003), pl.XXXI, no.21 (Luristan).
FootnotesCaucasian stone and bronze maces were distinguished by modestly finished, clean processed and predominantly close-to-ball shapes (with a variety of surface finishing, ranging from the smooth, ribbed, lobular forms to the rounded with protrusions and spikes), and the Western Iranian maces, especially the Luristan ones, notable for the variety of different forms. Similar mace-heads, probably realised in Luristan, decorated the head of the sceptres of Assyrian kings like Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207 B.C.).
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
10th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Compressed spherical body, the upper part with impressed decoration consisting of two rows of Saint Andreas crossed inside a shield, with domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 382 grams, 10.2 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. 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. -
Iron Spiked Macehead
Circa 16th-17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Comprising a globular flail head with large suspension loop above and sixteen spiked projections to the sides. 829 grams, 89 mm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The medieval flail was a weapon mainly used in Eastern Europe, probably created among the Steppe people and used by the Mongols, adopted by the Slavic people under the name of kisten. Such a weapon probably saw little use in Western Europe, where it is first represented in the 14th century in a fresco depicting the battle of Nineveh painted by Piero della Francesca, as a chain with three maceheads. In the poem Le Chevalier Délibéré written by Olivier de la Marche and published in 1486, there is an engraving representing a knight carrying a rather simple morning star with asymmetrically mounted quills and a single-ball flail of quills. It is thought that in the Middle Ages the nailed mace in general was used to break through and dismantle the armour of enemies who were then 'finished' with swords or daggers. -
Medieval Iron Prick Spur
Circa 12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
With abruptly curved arms ending in two loops, the prick with biconvex bulb. 73 grams, 13 cm
Ex B Posey collection, 1990s. Ex Den of Antiquity, Cambridgeshire, UK. Accompanied by a dealer's catalogue information card.
