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LOT 1077
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Group
10TH-9TH CENTURY B.C.
1 1/8 - 2 5/8 in. (103 grams total, 29-68 mm).
Comprising mainly tanged arrowheads, the most of them having large elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, cylindrical or squared stem for the shaft, barbed shoulders and convex sides; others with lanceolate head and rounded shoulders with long tang and foliate-section. [20]
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, figures 463, 467, and 471, for the types.
FootnotesThe most of these arrowheads, having a lozenge-section midrib with thin blades filed sharp at the edges, are typical of the early Iron Age in Luristan. These arrowheads seem to belong to the type V, subcategory types A, C and D according to the classification of Khorasani and Negahban. In the four categories of triangular bronze arrowheads from Luristan, Marlik, and Northern Iran individuated by Negahban, subtypes C and D of type V are larger arrow or javelin heads, C with barbed shoulders and D with round shoulders. Subtype A is substantially similar to C, but smaller. Similar arrowheads are also visible in the Western Iberian and Balkan cultures in the Early Iron Age.
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AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Group
10th-9th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Comprising mainly tanged arrowheads, the most of them having large elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, cylindrical or squared stem for the shaft, barbed shoulders and convex sides; others with lanceolate head and rounded shoulders with long tang and foliate-section. 103 grams total, 29-68 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The most of these arrowheads, having a lozenge-section midrib with thin blades filed sharp at the edges, are typical of the early Iron Age in Luristan. These arrowheads seem to belong to the type V, subcategory types A, C and D according to the classification of Khorasani and Negahban. In the four categories of triangular bronze arrowheads from Luristan, Marlik, and Northern Iran individuated by Negahban, subtypes C and D of type V are larger arrow or javelin heads, C with barbed shoulders and D with round shoulders. Subtype A is substantially similar to C, but smaller. Similar arrowheads are also visible in the Western Iberian and Balkan cultures in the Early Iron Age. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Piriform body with domed filler-hole; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 434 grams, 12.4 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. Such were the γανωτα, vessels (sometimes also of bronze) used for Greek fire. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Luristan Bronze Horse Bit Terminal Pair
9th-8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,560
Comprising two terminals in the form of human-headed horned and winged sphinxes; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 218 grams total, 15 cm wide including stand
From an old London, UK, collection. Ex London, UK, gallery.
The most admirable horse bits ever created by man are undoubtedly those from Luristan, a province in the north-west of Iran which extended along the valleys that make up the central part of the Zagros mountains. Worked in cast bronze with the lost wax process, they almost always had a rigid cannon in round or square bars which were flattened and rolled up around themselves at the ends, but their exceptional feature were the figural side bars. The local metalsmiths, in a period of time between 1200 and 700 B.C. managed to create an infinite number of typologies: horses, oxen, ibex, roosters and various mythological animals.
