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LOT 0311
Scythian Bronze Zoomorphic Openwork Horse Chamfron
4TH CENTURY B.C.
15 1/2 in. (283 grams, 39.5 cm).
The edges formed of opposed curving serpent heads, each pair flanking a central zoomorphic head, possibly representing a horse or a beast; the animals with incised detailing to their bodies and heads; a large horse(?) head to the lower edge with its muzzle forming the point of the chamfron; two loops to the reverse.
ProvenanceFrom the Gorovits family collection, since at least the 1940s.
Private collection, London.
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. 17178-221462.
Cf. similar elements in Melyukova, A.I., Stepi evropeĭskoy chasti SSSR v skifo-sarmatskoe vremya (Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian Period, in Russian), Moscow, 1989; Leskov, A.M., Grabschätze der Adygeen, Munich, 1990; Galanina, L.K., Die Kurgane von Kelermes:“Königsgräber” der frühskythischen Zeit, Moscow, 1997; Kantorovich, A.R., Erlich, V.R., Bronze Molding Art from Adygeian Kurgans, VIII-III centuries B.C., Moscow, 2006, cat.103,105,122; Galanina, L.K., ‘Horse equipment from the collection of Elizabethan antiquities stored in the State Hermitage (excavations of N.I. Veselovsky in years 1914, 1915, 1917, in Russian)’ in АСГЭ. Вып.38. Санкт-Петербург: Государственный Эрмитаж, Saint Petersburg, 2010, pp.107-122.
FootnotesBronze open-worked frontlets like this one were found with horses in the Barrow-mound no.5 of the Ulyap burial-ground in the Kuban basin, and their secure dating to the 4th century B.C. was established by the Thasian amphoras found in the respective graves (nn. 14-15-21, see Leskov, 1990, figs.180,183). The incised decoration of the chamfron finds various parallels both on frontlets from Barrow-Mounds nos. 4/1913 and 4/1917 near Elizavetinskaya Kossack-Village, in Kuban Basin, and from Gyuenos in Abkhazia (Galanina, 2010, pl.7,12). The piece belongs to a rare type of chamfron, known only from finds in the Scythian and Meotian burials of 5th-4th centuries B.C.
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LOT 0311
Scythian Bronze Zoomorphic Openwork Horse Chamfron
Sold for (Inc. bp): £8,450
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North-Western Persian Elamite Bronze Axehead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
With crescent blade and rounded knot at the butt, ornamental curved edging to the upper shaft hole, a cord edge on the lower shaft hole, incised band around the edge of the blade. 267 grams, 97 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
The type corresponds to the Gernez type H.2.H.a, of axes with collar and short sleeve lined with mouldings, fan-shaped blade and rear knot. It was a variant only known in Elam and Luristan. In Luristan one identical specimen was found at Chigha Sabz (grave M7). In Elam the majority of these axes were found in the Middle-Bronze Age (Age of Isin-Larsa or Early Babylonian Age) tombs of Sarcophagi, at Susa. -
Luristan Bronze Bulbous Macehead
Circa 7th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
With three round knobs at the top, radiating from the hollow shaft, with a further three heater-shaped projections below. 167 grams, 98 mm
Private collection, UK. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Piriform body with domed filler-hole, the upper body decorated with radiating vertical bands with deeply incised dots; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 435 grams, 11.1 cm
From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 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'.
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.
