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LOT 1013
German Socketted Iron Halberd
15TH-16TH CENTURY A.D.
17 3/4 in. (756 grams, 45 cm).
With square-section body and tapering spike, lateral languets pierced for attachment to the haft, hook to the rear and thick blade with crescent recess, pierced.
ProvenanceEx California, USA, collection formed since the late 1960s.
European art market before the late 1990s.
Cf. similar in the Tower Armouries Collection, Leeds, under accession no.VII.1534.
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AUCTIONS:
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Large Luristan Socketted Adze-Axehead
13th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With central socket and shaft; cutting blade set vertically at a right-angle; the short pick-adze blade arranged horizontally. 1.43 kg, 26 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The earliest axes-adzes from the 3rd millennium B.C. were weapons and tools furnished with socket holes. Usually the socket is a more secure way of attaching the object to a wooden haft than having a tang. These weapons developed into a plethora of different forms in the 2nd millennium B.C., and the numerous new forms and were used until at least 800 B.C. -
Viking Age Baltic Iron Wide-Bladed Axehead
11th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
With narrow T-shaped blade with curved edge, large round socket with lateral triangular flanges and rectangular extension to the rear. 785 grams, 18 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
The Curonians were known as fierce warriors and sailors who were involved in several wars and alliances with the Swedish, Danish and Icelandic Vikings. Baltic tribes created an original and impressive set of weaponry. They included battle knives, battle axes and spears and javelins with medium sized heads of a characteristic shape. -
Late Roman Iron Socketted Javelin
4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Fitted with a triangular blade with two barbs, expanding tubular socket. 213 grams, 23.5 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
Since the third century, Roman soldiers increasingly started to use long shafted socketed weapons with barbed heads. These weapons were called bebrae by Vegetius, according to whom they were able to cut heads with a single stroke. They first appeared in Northern Europe, as shown by numerous finds of barbed heads in graves and peat-bogs, especially Danish, and were introduced to the Roman army by Germanic mercenaries.
