Miniature Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade

Openwork finial formed as a miniature church comprising a square base with four stub feet, sidewalls each with a keyhole-shaped arch, upper storey cruciform in plan with radiating porticus ending in a tongue-shaped facade and loophole aperture; above, a tubular tower with loophole windows; flanged upper face with slot. 368 grams, 11.2 cm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection since the late 1990s.

This object reproduces a building of three levels: it belongs to a processional pole which supported a Byzantine bronze cross, the lower end of which fitted into the slot visible on the top of the drum. This object, which remains above all a decorative element, recalls by its structure a Byzantine church with its cross-shaped plan: architectural models reproducing religious buildings were very appreciated by Byzantine craftsmen (especially in the capital Constantinople), who used these structures to produce not only the cross holders but also the reliquaries, host boxes, or censers. Originally, this construction was supported by four columns of which only the capitals and a few fragments of the shaft remain. The presentation and demonstration of a cross to the faithful could take place during different celebrations of the Christian liturgical calendar, or even during certain civil ceremonies, or taking place in a princely court.

Comprising a flat-section hoop with a starburst motif to the base; openwork shoulders and a square bezel with a pellet to each corner, the bezel engraved with foliate motifs. 3.65 grams, 19.99 mm overall, 18.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10)



Acquired from London galleries during the 1990s. From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman.

Some rings from the Balkan territories of the Eastern Empire (for example the ring from Dobrača) bear a square thickened bezel engraved with schematic representations. What sets them apart are the widened shoulders emphasised by a plastic rib and the raised and flattened head, which places them in the group of rings which dates mainly to the 11th century (from the end of the 10th to the first decades of the 12th century).

Claw-shaped with cross and angel motif to the obverse; an inscription reading '+O KAT...Y' to the reverse. 7.9 grams, 39 mm



Acquired on the London, UK, art market in the 1990s. From a gentleman's private collection.

While one side is engraved with an angel with a cross-staff, the other side is engraved with the beginning of Psalm 91 (90): + Ο ΚΑΤΟΙΚΟΝ ΕΝ ΒΟΗΘΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΥΨΙϹΤΟΙ…(He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High…).