Medieval 'Thames' Iron Dagger with Wood Handle

Comprising a double-edged blade with pointed tip, battle nicks to both cutting edges; short bronze guard and a long tang; accompanied by a facetted rock crystal hilt pendant with a granulated gold mount above, set with a garnet cabochon; Eastern Roman or Alano-Gothic. 750 grams, 4-91.5 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12041-216428.

A characteristic type of the Migration period, originally used by nomadic people such as the Alans and Sarmatians. An important element of these swords was the presence (in tombs) of amber or rock crystal fittings, which some authors have identified being part of the pommel (Zasetskaya), and others as pendants hanging from the hilt of the sword. Interestingly the sword of grave 9 from the Necropolis of Novohryhorivka is decorated with a similar pendant, made of amber and fitted with a silver mount decorated with a filigree border.

Lentoid-section leaf-shaped blade with slender neck and long closed socket; Swanton's Group D1. 190 grams, 26 cm



Found near Wetwang, East Yorkshire, UK. Acquired circa 2005. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK.

A small number of leaf-shaped blades measuring between some 16 and 28 cm in length are similar to the smaller leaf-shaped pieces of the Swanton series C, except that they tend to be more slender overall. The socket is always narrowly split up its entire length.

Piriform body with impressed panels and roundels to the shoulder, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 415 grams, 10.7 cm



From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 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.