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LOT 1417
Medieval Bronze Sword Chape
15TH-16TH CENTURY A.D.
2 3/4 in. (16.7 grams, 71 mm).
Scalloped border on the upper edge, sharply tapering body with collar at the narrow end. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx European collection, 1990s.
Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.
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AUCTIONS:
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Saxon Sacrificed Iron Spatha with Bronze Chape
5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
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. -
Greek Bronze Arrowhead Group
5th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Triangular-section, barbed-and-socketted, and other types. 8.93 grams total, 16-38 mm
From a private Tyneside collection, formed since the early 2000s. -
Luristan Bronze Arrowhead Collection
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Mainly triangular-headed and leaf-shaped barbed and tanged types. 232 grams total, 8-13.7 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s.