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LOT 0337
Western Asiatic Bronze Sword
LATE 2ND-EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
18 7/8 in. (743 grams, 48 cm).
The hilt with mushroom-shaped pommel, round grip, crescentic guard with double horizontal bars, long sloping blade with rounded mid-ridge.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
See a similar sword in Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 1, London, 2002, item 24, p.27, for the type.
FootnotesThis category of swords has been classified by Khorasani as 'swords with a mushroom pommel' and are usually characterised by a solid-cast hilt with a penannular guard, a ribbed or variously decorated grip and the conical hollow-cast mushroom pommel. Usually the blade is multi-fullered and tapers to a sharp tip. Moorey considers them to be from the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.
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AUCTIONS:
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Migration Period Iron Sword with Jewelled Hilt
5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £8,000 - 10,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,000
Comprising: a spatha-type two-edged tapering blade, lentoid in section with sloped shoulders and short tang pierced by an attachment rivet for the grip; traces to both faces of the blade of wooden fibre from the scabbard; edges lightly notched but substantially complete; the lower guard rectangular in plan and scaphoid in section with inset garnet cloisons, triangular along the lower row and heart-shaped above, rectangular at the top, with small rectangular slivers at each end; accompanied by the upper roundel of the pommel, set with four garnet cloisons. 954 grams, 84.5 cm
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 no. 12357-225921.
These ‘ceremonial’ swords (in reality widely used in battle) with an inlaid guard are according to Kazanski Late Roman in origin. The cloisonné decoration was probably linked with the production of particularly ornamented swords in the ateliers of the Roman capital of Constantinople. This typology of weapon was not only produced as a gift for Barbarian chiefs allied to the empire, but it was also adopted by the Imperial army, and reserved for the Imperial officers, who were often of Germanic or Asiatic origin. -
Post Medieval Iron Prick Spur
20th century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £39
With rectangular finials, D-section frame and conical prick. 67 grams, 15.5 cm
From a private Barnsley, UK, family collection. -
Large Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Piriform missile with domed filler-hole, three raised lugs to the body and a circumferential decorative band composed of chevrons and ring-and-dot motifs; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 1.2 kg, 20.2 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.
