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LOT 1551
African Ceremonial Iron Double Axe
LATE 20TH CENTURY A.D.
22 1/4 in. (450 grams, 56.5 cm).
Comprising: tapering wooden shaft with circumferential grooves; iron twibill head with two-part flat socket riveted to two crescent blades, each with punched rectangular slots and holes, butted rings to the inner angles. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceProperty of a Berkshire, UK, gentleman collector.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Iron Dagger with Bone Hilt
19th-early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Comprising a curved iron blade with midrib, waisted bone hilt with carved scene to each face, band of text above and below. 550 grams, 46 cm
Private collection, UK. -
Vietnamese Officer's Iron Sword with Scabbard
Colonial Period, late 19th-early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,105
The curved blade with corrugation below the spine, narrowing tip, applied collar at the ricasso; pierced discoid guard, curved grip with decorated sleeve; lacquered scabbard with silver fittings; Vietnamese name lightly inscribed on hilt. 967 grams total, 93 cm including scabbard
Acquired in 2008. Property of a Kent, UK, private collector. -
Saxon Sacrificed Iron Spatha with Bronze Chape
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Double-edged long sword (spatha) of type Osterburken-Kemathen; the blade with squared shoulders, broken into two parts for sacrificial reasons, tapering towards the point; sturdy tang partially preserved; wooden traces of the scabbard and hilt still visible; accompanied by a bronze outer rim of a scabbard; restored. 630 grams total, 78 cm long
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
The deliberate fragmentation of a sword, often into three pieces, was a symbolic act of ‘killing’ the weapon, which was then placed as a grave good or offered in a ceremonial context. This was a Germanic custom already visible in the Vandal Przeworsk culture around the 3rd or 4th century A.D., which continued in Northern European areas until the 5th and the 6th centuries A.D.
