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_900x900.jpg "Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks")
_200x200.jpg "Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks")
.jpg "Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks")
LOT 1030
Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
2 1/2 in. (19.6 grams total, 64-66 mm).
Each a scrolled bar formed as a serpent or other animal with stylised geometric detailing; attachment perforations to both terminals. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.
LiteratureCf. Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 2006, p.96, fig.51,3 for similar.
FootnotesIn the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D., the Celtic fastening system of the ring mail armour (gallica, lorica ferro aspera) became the standard in the Imperial Roman army, with a pivot attached to the breast and hinged to the edges of the humeralia (shoulder guards). The chest fastener had various different designs. The double hooks, S-shaped and usually with snake-head terminals, were secured by a central rivet on the chest. The system allowed excellent freedom of movement, giving greater protection to the shoulders and the arms. Similar fasteners for infantry mail have been found on the Kalkriese battlefield, some of them also decorated with niello and inscribed with the name of the soldier.
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LOT 1030
Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
Estimate £150 - 200€170 - 230 (for guidance only)$200 - 270 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Pear-shaped ceramic vessel with domed filler-hole, circumferential impressed bands to the shoulder and equator; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 490 grams, 15 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 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. Such were the γανωτα, vessels (sometimes also of bronze) used for Greek fire. 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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Each scale B-shaped, slightly convex sides, two equally spaced circular holes along the straight edge. 55 grams total, 19-38 mm
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
This object is not typical of 'squama' which usually has scales that are rectangular with one rounded end, and numerous attachment holes at the square end in pairs. However, it can be a type widespread in the post Roman age, with various specimens found in Britain (PAS SWYOR-CA6BBB, BM-95F434 and NCL-34BE90. -
North-West Persian Bronze Spearhead
Early 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Short triangular two-edged blade with thick midrib, long round-section neck with V-shaped recesses to the lower end, tapering square-section tang. 268 grams, 34.5 cm
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The spearhead belongs to a typology of spears widespread in the Marlik region, which Negahban divided into two categories. This spearhead belongs to type II, spearheads with triangular blades with rather short blade and shaft with a long tang, the total length of the blade being less than that of the shaft and tang together.
