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LOT 1477
Large Viking Age Iron Socketted Bearded Axehead
CIRCA 10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
8 1/4 in. (730 grams, 21 cm).
Finely curved broad blade with chin to the lower edge, rounded socket with lateral triangular extensions and a rectangular extension to the rear; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.
LiteratureCf.Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.14 (3); Sedov, B.B., Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija, Moscow, 1987, pl.CXXIV, item 4.
FootnotesThis type of bearded axe seems to correspond to the E2 category of the Viking axe classification, but also has affinity with the Slavic axe-type Y. Usually these bearded axeheads (skeggöks) had a longer edge, designed to split tree trunks into planks and beams. Some of the bearded axes were known as halfÞynna öx; the neck on such a 'half thin axe' was thinly forged, to make it lighter.
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Luristan Bronze Dagger
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Blade with a shallow median rib, crescentic pennannular guard, handle with pommel in the shape of a nail head. 151 grams, 30.5 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
This is a type of blade rare among Luristan weapons. The simplest type that appeared to J. de Morgan and Godard in the first excavations of Luristan looked like this: a blade always featuring a median groove, a guard decorated with a crescent, and a round hilt with a nail-shaped head. The hilt was usually filled with organic material, such as wood, bone, or ivory. -
Luristan Bronze Short Sword
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £884
Triangular blade with single median rib, crescent-shaped hollow pommel open at the edges to accept an organic insert, columnar grip and lower guard at the juncture between hilt and blade. 499 grams, 50 cm
Ex Norri collection, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK, 1980s-1990s. -
Mesopotamian Bronze Javelin Head
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £176
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Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
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