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LOT 1393
Roman Lead Slingshot Group
1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/8 in. (155 grams total, 28-30 mm).
A mixed group of four lentoid-section biconical lead slingshot, three fitted with iconic winged thunderbolts on one side, and one with the Tanit goddess symbol, possibly alluding to a Balearic-Punic origin. [5, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman; acquired in the 1990s.
LiteratureSee D'Amato, R. and Sumner, G., Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier: From Marius to Commodus, 112 BC-AD 192, London, 2009, fig.32, p.45, for similar glandes from Zaragoza Museum; Schinco, G., Small, A.M., 'A previously unknown siege of Brotomagno/Silvium: the evidence of slingshots from Gravina in Puglia (provincia di Bari, Puglia),' in Papers of the British School at Rome, 2019, pp.1-52, figs.2,3.
FootnotesThe slingshots are belonging to the type IIb of the Völling classification. The practice of inscribing slingshots developed early, in 4th century BC Greece. Most inscriptions are names (in full or abbreviated) of generals or commanders of units of slingers. Some are slogans of the contesting sides. Individual letters occasionally appear, sometimes in conjunction with a name or motif or numbers.
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Byzantine Decorated Bronze Archer's Thumb Ring
5th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Circular in section with triangular flange to one edge, incised ring-and-dot markings. 3.72 grams, 24.34 mm overall, 16.19 x 13.95 mm internal diameter (approximate size British F 1/2, USA 3, Europe 4.3, Japan 4)
From a private Tyneside collection, formed since the early 2000s. -
US Confederate Bayonet
19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising a tubular socket for fixing to a muzzle of a weapon, with a separate collar, long tapering triangular blade with a raised rib on the underside and 'US' stamp at the base. 320 grams, 52.5 cm
From the private collection of author and historian Dr DeWitt Bailey, one of the global authorities on the confederate army in the US civil war; thence by descent to his grandson. -
Saxon Sacrificed Iron Spatha with Bronze Chape
5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Double-edged long sword (spatha) of type Osterburken-Kemathen; the blade with squared shoulders, broken into two parts for sacrificial reasons, tapering towards the point; sturdy tang partially preserved; wooden traces of the scabbard and hilt still visible; accompanied by a bronze outer rim of a scabbard; restored. 630 grams total, 78 cm long
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
The deliberate fragmentation of a sword, often into three pieces, was a symbolic act of ‘killing’ the weapon, which was then placed as a grave good or offered in a ceremonial context. This was a Germanic custom already visible in the Vandal Przeworsk culture around the 3rd or 4th century A.D., which continued in Northern European areas until the 5th and the 6th centuries A.D.
