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LOT 1376
Western Asiatic Bronze Sword Blade
CIRCA 1000 B.C.
13 1/4 in. (254 grams, 34 cm).
With rounded shoulders and square-sectioned mid-rib running to the blade tip; short tang with fastening hole.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Cf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 2, London, 2004, item 40, p.36.
FootnotesThe Luri people produced a quantity of fine metalwork, which according to Dr Khorasani, could be due to a settled period which arose as a result of the defeat of the Elamites by the Babylonians, leaving the Luristani people in relative peace for a period of time after 1200 BC. According to Khorasani 'A culture of innovation and experimentation flourished, and the repertoire of the Luristan smiths expanded in the period between 1150–1050 BC.'
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AUCTIONS:
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Luristan Bronze Rivetted Dagger
13th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Leaf-shaped blade with slight midrib, slightly recurved shoulders, stub tang pierced to accept attachment rivets, two in situ. 68 grams, 16.6 cm
Acquired in Oxford, UK. From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; with collection no.BA20; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Piriform missile with domed filler-hole, petalled decoration to the upper body with pellets, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 431 grams, 10.7 cm
From a specialist London, UK, arms and armour collection, 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. -
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
Early 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
With foliate blade and raised mid-rib with the tang bent at the tip. 233 grams, 26.7 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
Similar spearheads were excavated in the Marlik Royal cemetery by Dr Negahban, see for example in tomb 47, Trench XXIIE. They were the evolution of a typology which began much earlier in Mesopotamia and the fertile crescent, the type 4 of the Stronach classification, with straight tang and square section, usually thickened at the base with a button tang. The foliate blade was wide and exaggerated in some specimens excavated at Marlik.
