Ancient Mycenaean Greek pottery stirrup-spout jar, ca. 1425-1100 BCE. With twin strap handles flanking the false neck and a spout emerging from the shoulder. Decorated along the sides with circular and striped motifs. They were often used to transport oils during the Late Bronze Age. Height: 5 1/2 in x width: 5 in x depth: 5 in.

A POTTERY HAND GRENADE, c. 10TH TO 15TH CENTURY A POTTERY HAND GRENADE, c. 10TH TO 15TH CENTURY Presumably Byzantine empire. Of gray unglazed earthenware, the hollow piriform body carved with four alternating birds with humanoid faces and stylized plumage. The top with an aperture for filling with 'Greek Fire'. Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe. Condition: Good condition with old wear, firing cracks, small losses, sings of weathering and erosion, small chips, surface scratches, and soil encrustations. Weight: 765 g Dimensions: Length ca. 17 cm Large numbers of similar vessels, both complete and fragmentary, have been found all over Central Asia, including parts of Russia. There was at one time considerable controversy over whether they were containers for mercury or holy water, lamps, or grenades designed to be charged with incendiary material, probably a mixture containing naphtha, the basis of the legendary Greek Fire of the Byzantines. An article published by W. Arendt in 1931 established beyond doubt that they were grenades. See W. Arendt, 'Irdene Granaten des 13.-14, Jahrhunderts, die an der Wolga gefunden sind', Zeitschrift für Historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 11 (1926-8), pp. 264-5; P. Post 'Handbrandgeschoß oder Öllampe?', ibid, 12 (1929-31), p. 42; W. Arendt, 'Die Sphärisch-Konischen Gefässe aus Gebranntem Ton', ibid, pp. 206-10; D. Ayalon, Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom, London 1956, p. 16.