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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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Luristan Bronze Socketted Spearhead
13th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
With a broad leaf-shaped blade, a triangular mid-rib and a tapering tubular socket; accompanied by a display stand. 382 grams total, spearhead: 23.1 cm (31.2 cm including stand)
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
The spear belongs to the type VIII classified by Khorasani (spearheads with well-projecting midribs and long folded sockets) and more specifically to subtype C (with leaf-shaped blade and short hollow socket). Usually, the willow-leaf blade has an almost straight shoulder base and a wide, flat midrib tapering towards the point. -
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Civil War Period and Later Lead Pistol and Musket Balls
17th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
A mixed group of lead musket and pistol ball. 2.31 kg total, 9-20 mm
Found Suffolk, UK. Property of a Suffolk, UK, gentleman. -
Viking Iron Pattern-Welded Sword
8th-9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £8,450
Double-edged cutting sword of Petersen type A with a finely tapering blade, showing pattern-welding; upper and lower guards with strongly curved sides; the cross-guard boat-shaped with an acute tapering tang; the pommel attached with two nails to the original boat-shaped upper guard. 809 grams, 85.5 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no. 13064-249347.
Petersen originally individuated eight examples of this sword’s typology, one of the first categories of Viking swords, although these swords were also widely used in the Carolingian Empire and widespread among the Italic population as well (frescoes from the Necropolis of S.Andrea Priu, Sardegna, 8th or 9th century AD), where specimens are still attested in the 10th century A.D (D’Amato-Salimbeti, 2020, p.23). The evenly wide, three-sided pommel, narrower than the guard, was the most characteristic element of such swords, and in some cases it was divided into three segments, or even seven segments (swords from Neri, Opstryn s., Stryn, Nordfjord). Thes tend to be confused with the similar pommels of the swords of H typology (Petersen, 1919, pp.89ff.), but in these latter swords the guards are wider and with an elliptical cross-section.
