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LOT 0261
Scythian Bronze Scale Armour Section
6TH-5TH CENTURY B.C.
6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (165 grams, 16 x 12 cm).
A section of scale armour coat composed of 162 overlapping tongue-shaped scales mounted onto a cloth panel, each with three holes to the top and some with one or two holes to the right for fastening onto the original leather backing.
ProvenanceFrom 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 number no.12469-231236.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. similar scales from Egypt, dated circa 590 B.C., in the Metropolitan Museum, discovered in the palace of Apries, accession no. 09.183.7a–v; Cernenko, E.V., The Scythians 700-300 BC, Hong Kong, 1998, pp.7ff., pl.D & E; for identical scales see Полин, С.В. & Колтухов, С.Г., ‘A Scythian Burial in a mound near the S.Nadezhda in Crimea’ and Лихачёва, О.С., ‘Elements of Scythian tradition in the complex of armament of the Altai forest-steppes population, in the 6th-3rd centuries B.C.’, in Russian Academy of science, The war and the military in the Scythian-Sarmatian world, Proceedings of International Scientific Conference in tribute to the memory of A.I. Melyukova (Kagal’nik, 26–29 April 2014), pp.119-126, and pp.162-171, pl.3, p.126, fig.2, p.165.
FootnotesThe favourite armour of the Scythian noblemen was composed of scales, usually protecting the torso, sometimes the entire body (kataphraktoi). The Scythians found that the most efficient method was to arrange the overlapping ‘fish-scales’ as a corselet made of a number of bronze and iron plates, which then protected the wearer against sword and spear thrusts. Our scales correspond well to bronze scales found in May 1961 in an accidentally destroyed burial in a barrow, near the village of Nadezhda Sovetsky district. They were discovered together with iron scales, a Greek Corinthian helmet, fragments of an amphora, five arrowheads and fragments of an iron sword. Most of these bronze scales were oblong in shape, with a sub-rectangular upper end and a rounded lower end, but slightly bigger than our scales.
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Western Asiatic Bronze Spearhead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
With foliate blade, rhomboidal in section, raised mid-rib, medium length stem widening at its base and forming a small stop, rectangular-section tang with bent terminal. 595 grams, 41.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The specimen belongs to the category of tripartite spears with long pointed biconvex blade and single bevelled tang. They seem to be a Mesopotamian and Susian (Elamite) variant, and this type also includes decorated blades, like the spear from Tello with the inscription 'King of Kish'. Various specimens have been found in the layers of Tepe Hissar III site. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
A piriform missile with domed filler-hole, four raised lugs to the body with impressed lozenges in between, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 497 grams, 14 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. 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'. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Arendt, W. I., Granaten des 13-14. Jahrhunderts, die an der Wolga gefunden sind, Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen-und Kostumkunde, 11 (1926-8), p.42; cf. Arendt, W., Die Spharisch-konischen Gefäße aus Gebranntem Ton, ibid; cf. Ayalon, D., Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom, London, 1956, p.16. 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. -
Talish Bronze Blade
13th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Comprising a pointed blade with shallow midrib and concave sides, square shoulders with transverse horizontal ribbed guard, square-section tang with later mushroom pommel. 595 grams, 50 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
These swords developed in the Period of the Wars of the Assyrian Empire. One may also compare the square shoulders and the ribs at the junction of hilt and blade here visible (and also visible on blades from Talish) with the Gandzha-Karabagh culture swords of Eastern Transcaucasia.
