Urartu Bronze Repoussé Fragment with Advancing Warriors on Horseback

With lateral curved plates and scrolled bar to the front, rear panel with hooked spur for attachment. 617 grams, 21 cm



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Hipposandals (soleae ferreae) were used on horses with injured hooves, a sort of equine orthopaedic shoe used by the mulomedicus, i.e. a Roman military veterinarian. Another important function was that to protect the hooves of the horse from injuries and damages from hard objects. The hipposandal of type 1 was formed from a sub-oval plate which tapered towards the front and rear with projections at the front, back and on either side. The heel was upturned at about 45 degrees and flared outwards. It would have terminated with a downward facing hook, now missing. The base of the sole was flat.

Comprising: a rectangular plaque with stepped void openwork and scrolled ends; a rectangular mount with rectangular and circular voids; a piriform mount with central void, trefoil to the interior; pierced twice for attachment; a pendant with broad loop, D-shaped plaque with three-lobed void. 70 grams total, 40-74 mm



Acquired before 1980. Ex London, UK collector. Property of a Scottish collector, acquired in 2013.

Belt of Antonine Age incorporated openwork designs, many of which show traces of Celtic decorative influence. According to Bishop & Coulston, these fittings were recognisable as the prototypes for those excavated in the 3rd century Roman military sites.

Piriform body with thick ribs to the shoulder and impressed panels between, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 708 grams, 15 cm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. 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.