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LOT 1120
Roman Iron Anti-Cavalry Caltrop
3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER
3 3/8 in. (29 grams, 86 mm).
Composed of four arms tipped with triangular spikes.
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market around 2000.
From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Beutler, F. et al., Der Adler Roms. Carnuntum und die Armee der Cäsaren, Bad-Deutsch-Altenburg, 2017, item 204, for type.
FootnotesCaltrops were scattered on battlefields in an effort to stop or slow advancing enemy cavalry or foot soldiers; regardless of how a caltrop lands, one spike is always facing upwards. Caesar used widely them at Alesia (Caes., BG 7.73; 82): 'Stakes a foot long, with iron hooks attached to them, were entirely sunk in the ground before these, and were planted in every place at small intervals; these they called spurs'.
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English Medieval Iron Kidney Dagger
Late 15th-early 16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Comprising a single-edged blade, whittle tang and cylindrical grip terminating in a bulbous openwork pommel. 178 grams, 31 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
Carried universally throughout Europe, the kidney dagger or ballock dagger (dague a rognons) seems to have been used by all classes of society. Early effigies and brasses prove that the ballock dagger was a knightly weapon. Later on, the more elaborate daggers suggest that it was also a weapon of the emerging merchant and artisan classes. Of course there are also some very simple and crude examples which would probably have been used by the peasants. -
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Cromwellian Pikeman's Pot Helmet
1642-1651 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Of Morion Cabasset Type, the iron bowl composed of two rivetted parts with a crest; plume holder to the rear; wide sloping brim with smooth border and rivets; repaired. 1.16 kg, 35 cm
Ex Michael D Long Ltd, UK. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. 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 number no.11769-204122.
A complete set of pikeman's armour consisted of a gorget, back and breast plates, and tassets. With the outbreak of the Civil War, obsolete equipment which had been stored in the Tower of London or in private armouries was brought into service together with more modern equipment. Helmets of this type were often furnished of cheek-pieces made of horizontal rows of blades. -
Siamese 'Wild Tigers Corps' Type 62 Pattern 1907 Bayonet and Scabbard
Dated 1919 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Stamped 2642 in Thai numerals at top of blade with 'tiger mask' mark for Siam, together with original British marks, fitted with wood grip scales and spring release button; the scabbard with original throat and chape, modified in Thailand to replace the original leather main section. 726 grams, 58.5 cm
Property of a Luton, UK gentleman, by inheritance.
The Type 62 is a re-badged British Pattern 1907 bayonet. Siam purchased 10,000 SMLE rifles and Pattern 1907 bayonets from Britain in 1919 to equip the 'Wild Tiger Corps', royal bodyguard of Vajiravudh, King Rama VI (reigned 1910–1925). The tiger figural on the ricasso is representative of the Wild Tiger Corps. Year 2462 on the Buddhist Calendar corresponds to 1919. SMLE rifles and Pattern 1907 bayonets were taken from British stocks, refurbished by Birmingham Small Arms (BSA), and remarked with Siamese markings. The bayonets were shipped with standard steel-mounted leather scabbards. However, the leather rapidly deteriorated in the tropical climate, so the Siamese made a replacement steel scabbard body to which the original steel mounts were brazed.
