ca. 900–1100 AD. Byzantine. A hefty, mould-formed pottery hand grenade with an acorn-shaped body with protruding spikes, a rounded shoulder, and a narrow mouth. Grenades like this were meant to hold the famed and highly combustible substance known as "Greek fire," though its exact composition is unknown; scholars posit that the mixture was composed of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, and sulphur; custom-made stand included.Provenance: Property of a London gentleman, formerly with the Parthenon gallery, previously in an old English collection formed in the 1980s.Size: L:120mm / W:80mm ; 500g