Description:

Ancient Near East, Holy Land, Byzantine Empire, ca. 10th to 12th century CE. A mold-formed pottery hand grenade exhibiting an acorn-shaped body with a tapered lower tip, a rounded shoulder, and a protruding wick spout on top. Four sets of concentric circles are impressed around the body as both a decorative element as well as a means of increasing the thrower's grip. Grenades like this were meant to hold the famed and highly combustible substance known "Greek fire," though its exact composition is unknown; scholars posit that the mixture was composed of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, and sulphur. Size: 3.1" W x 3.8" H (7.9 cm x 9.7 cm)

Provenance: ex-estate of Elder Bontekoe, Pegasi Numismatics, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, acquired before 2000

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#157894

  • Condition: Nicks to body and wick spout and light encrustations within some recessed details, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits and preservation of circular motifs.

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September 10, 2020 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000