**First Time At Auction**

Near East / Europe, late Byzantine to Medieval, ca. 11th to 14th century CE. A rare mold-made pottery hand grenade in a rich pink terracotta with remains of grey pigment featuring a circular base that expands to a bulbous body and then narrows to a dramatically sloped shoulder with a petite circular fuse hole, a slender neck, and a flat annular top. The base of the vessel boasts a lovely stamped tondo of a crowned and veiled Virgin Mary endearingly tilting her head to press her left cheek against a diademed baby Jesus, who sits upon her lap and looks to his left. Both adorned with halos of vegetal motifs, the mother and child are flanked by two additional haloed figures, one to their left genuflecting and holding a crosier, possibly a bishop or pope, and another to their right holding 2 spears, perhaps Saint Longinus. The body of this holy hand grenade is embellished by 5 thick incised bands along its shoulder, 2 on its neck, and 3 at the bottom just before its base. Size: 3.25" W x 7.125" H (8.3 cm x 18.1 cm)

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 sulfur. If you remove the paper from the fuse hole and tilt this example on its side, remains of a sandy combustible substance will pour out!

For a touch of humor, "And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy. And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--" (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975)

Provenance: private collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA

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#149842

Expected surface wear commensurate with age including nicks/chips, scratches, and abraded areas throughout with some softening to relief and side rings. Wearing of relief and remains of pottery on periphery of tondo suggest there was previously a foot. Otherwise, intact and excellent with nice remaining pigment and rich earthen deposits.