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LOT 1516
Royal Hampshire Volunteers Silver-Plated Button
19TH CENTURY A.D.
5/8 in. (2.18 grams, 17 mm).
Silver-plated military button bearing the legend 'ROYAL HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEERS' around a crown; loop to reverse. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Waltham St.
Lawrence, Windsor and Maidenhead, UK.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BERK-0A5A9A.
From the PAS Report: 'Similar recorded examples have 'I. Nutting' backmark (without '& Son') which indicates a manufacture date of c.1794-1802 ('& Son' being added in 1803, dropped again c1820 when the father died).'
The story of the unit is difficult to determine. 'The Volunteer & Militia lists for 1794,1796, 1797, 1799, 1800 & 1801 have all been checked and no unit of this title is listed. Also the Parliamentary Return for December 9th & 13th, 1803 which lists many units that didn't make it into the April 1804 War Office List have been searched, again no such unit is listed. There were a few infantry volunteer regiments raised c1780-1783 as so many of the regular regiments were fighting in the War of American Independence, 'Royal Lancasters Volunteers' was one such that is listed, but there is no mention of one for Hampshire.'
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LOT 1516
Royal Hampshire Volunteers Silver-Plated Button
Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Ovoid in profile with a rounded base and a gently ribbed body; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 774 grams, 14.6 cm
From a specialist collection, London, UK, 1990-2000s. 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. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια, where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Chinese Zhou Bronze Socketted Spearhead
Zhou Dynasty, 1046-256 B.C.Estimate: £450 - 650 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
With thick midrib, leaf-shaped blade with lateral spurs, deep tubular socket with fastening hole for the attachment to the wooden shaft. 250 grams, 32 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. -
North-West Persian Bronze Blade
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Long blade with a pronounced mid-rib, openwork tubular hilt, crescentic guard. 310 grams, 37.2 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
In these daggers, the hilts were cast in the lost wax process, while the blades were cast in a mould. The openwork was cast in the original wax, and after casting was inlaid with a cream-coloured stone, which survives in some examples.
