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LOT 1357
Western Asiatic Bronze Short Sword with Integral Hilt with Horns
LATE 2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
20 3/4 in. (466 grams, 53 cm).
A bronze dagger blade with prominently curved guard, which extends out from the ricasso of the blade and partly frames the hilt, thick flat midrib extending slightly above the ricasso where it held the hilt.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See similar swords in Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, pp.99-100.
FootnotesThe hilt of such swords was made separately, and unfortunately is nearly always missing from the archaeological records. Similar daggers had a northern Iranian background and excavated examples have been recorded from the South Caspian Area from Tomadjan and Ghalekuti.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1357
Western Asiatic Bronze Short Sword with Integral Hilt with Horns
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
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Scythian Bronze Arrowhead Collection
Circa 7th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Each with a slender, lozenge-shaped blade and a socket extending near the tip, base of the socket with a side lug. 130 grams total, 37-57 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.
In Greek warfare archery was mainly employed by Scythians and Cretans for the longer-ranks. Both used composite bows made of wood, horn, bone and sinew. This explains the great range of Scythian arrowheads found on the Greek sites. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
A ceramic missile, piriform in profile with band of impressed rings to the equator and larger ring-and-dot motifs beneath, domed filler-hole above, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 829 grams, 14.6 cm
From a military inspired collection formed from the 1990s. 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. -
Medieval Iron Single-Handed Sword
Late 11th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Double-edged tapering blade with rounded point, shallow fuller and a parallel-sided lower guard (cross style 2), the grip gently tapering, discoid pommel of type I with chamfered sides. 1.2 kg, 1.01 m
From 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.12177-221435.
The sword belongs to the type of ‘war swords’, although it is challenging to establish if it belongs to the type XI or type XII of Oakeshott's classification. It corresponds well with an English sword of type XI kept in the Tower Armoury (Dufty, 1974, plate 2, letter a), found in a peat bog near Newbury; but it also presents many characteristics of swords of type XII: it presents similarity to two swords excavated by Dr Jorma Leppaaho in 1950, from late Viking graves, one having a cross guard identical to our specimen and the other an identical pommel (Oakeshott, 1991, p.69, lett. V and VI); and another similar specimen is (a water find from Denmark) preserved in the Nationalmuseet of Copenhagen. In general the taper of the blade points more to the nature of the XII typology.
