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LOT 0970
Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
14TH CENTURY A.D.
5 7/8 in. (755 grams, 15 cm).
Piriform body with vertical bands of pellets and roundels, knop finial, tiered and domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 1990s onwards.
LiteratureCf. 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
FootnotesApart 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.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0970
Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
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Byzantine Gold Cross Pendant
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
Square central panel with four radiating arms, bulb finials, pierced suspension lug above, punched pellet-in-triangle motifs to obverse. 3.27 grams, 24 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Byzantine Bronze Pendant with Angel and Inscription
6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Claw-shaped with cross and angel motif to the obverse; an inscription reading '+O KAT...Y' to the reverse. 7.9 grams, 39 mm
Acquired on the London, UK, art market in the 1990s. From a gentleman's private collection.
While one side is engraved with an angel with a cross-staff, the other side is engraved with the beginning of Psalm 91 (90): + Ο ΚΑΤΟΙΚΟΝ ΕΝ ΒΟΗΘΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΥΨΙϹΤΟΙ…(He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High…). -
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Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Bronze Cross Group
7th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Comprising: a cross buckle with pin; the upper plate of a small enkolpion with a praying Virgin or Saint; two orthodox pectoral crosses, both with inscription 'IC' (Iesus) 'XC' (Christos ) 'NIKA' (Christ is victorious); the smallest cross with invocation-prayer engraved on the back. 51.8 grams total, 36-73 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
The fragment of the simpler Maltese cross mount corresponds to the type E2 of Schulze-Dörrlamm, here with straight arms with rounded corners. It resembles the cross-shaped hinge fittings of the belt buckles from Herrera de Pisuerga and tomb 9 from El Tesorillo from Visigoth Spain, two bronze fittings from Lusitania and the buckle with busts of saints and the Greek inscription 'Light and Life' from Korbous in Tunisia. These kind of buckles were also found in male warrior graves.
