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Details
LOT 1161
Large Viking Iron Socketted Spearhead
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
17 1/8 in. (1.76 kg total, 43.5 cm including stand).
Comprising a leaf-shaped blade with lozenge cross-section, raised midrib, closed tubular socket; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.
Literature
Cf. similar specimen in the British Museum, London, from Norway, inventory no.1875,0716.3.
Footnotes
The spear belongs to the type A of the first main group of Viking spears, the so-called Frankish spearheads, which occur between 750 and 950 A.D., but mainly in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Mediterranean influence is still evident on the foliate shape of the blade.
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