Roman Bronze Eagle-Handled Knife

Featuring a wedge-shaped blade and a lobed handle; the hilt fitted with an iron plate bending down to form points on each side of the blade, pommel with a discoid brass plate decorated with an incised flower motif. 307 grams, 46 cm



Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

The term 'ballock dagger' was used in medieval times to describe a dagger with a grip bearing a considerable resemblance to a phallic symbol. It was also called 'kidney dagger' during the Victorian times. The constant characteristic is the presence of two roundish and symmetrical bulbs at the guard, with the grip itself emerging upward between them and flaring slightly towards the top, sometimes being surmounted by a cap.

With pierced crescent motifs to the shank, free-running star-shaped rowel and geometric engraving to heelband with lozengiform terminals. 349 grams, 22 cm



Acquired from Czerny's Auctions, Italy, 2016, lot 390. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. Accompanied by copy of Czerny's invoice and lot details.

A Byzantine or Eastern European armour group comprising 138 plates from a klivanion in forty different shapes; originally the plates would have been interlaced and attached to an undergarment to form a compact cuirass. 1.43 kg total, 4-12 cm

Good condition, extremely rare

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 search certificate no.11929-209662.

The lamellar protection was particularly effective when used by mounted troops as it provided not just protection but enabled free movement due to its loose construction. A similar type of armour was already used by the Assyrians in the 9th century B.C. Its use increased in the west during the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. As a result of changes in warfare techniques, where the archer’s role in the initial stages of the battle was of utmost importance, the use of lamellar armour was widespread amongst the Roman army and Germanic peoples. There are various ways in which the present suite of plates could have been assembled, although it was likely a short (thigh-length) form of lamellar armour.