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LOT 1387
Mesopotamian Bronze Arrowhead Collection
CIRCA 1800-900 B.C.
1 5/8 - 4 3/4 in. (353 grams total, 4-12 cm).
Including triangular-section, barbed, paddle-shaped, and other types. [35]
ProvenanceEx London, UK, collection, 1990s.
LiteratureSee Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, pp.289ff., for similar arrowheads; Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, fig.467, for the barbed and triangular type.
FootnotesPaddle-shaped arrowheads with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib and the blade shaped to a point were typical of Old Babylonian Empire. The shoulders were pronounced and the arrowhead had a rectangular-section tapering tang. They are the majority in this group, which comprises also barbed triangular arrowheads of type V from Marlik-Luristan, and one interesting specimen of trilobate arrowhead.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Military Bronze Cavalry Spur
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Crescentic in plan with carinated profile, discoid lug to each end, sturdy square-section ferrous stud to the centre. 45 grams, 64 mm
Private collection, UK, formed 1980s-1990s. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Piriform body with segmented shoulder and impressed roundels, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 294 grams, 91 mm
From a military inspired collection formed from the 1990s. 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. -
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Sarmatian Bronze Belt Clasp with Hare and Hound
Circa 3rd-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Openwork rectangular panel with hare-and-hound motif, two lateral fixing lugs. 19.2 grams, 60 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman.
Belt plaques with zoomorphic motifs illustrate not only the recognised unity of the zoomorphic art of the steppes, but also the links between the Sarmatians and the eastern nomadic groups. Important in this respect are similar buckles with representations of camels (Krasnogorovka III, Kurgan 11) or Ordos-style bronze plaques from the Kuban.
