LOT 0259

Migration Period Iron Sword with Garnet Cross Guard and Scabbard Fittings

5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.

35 7/8 in. (903 grams, 91 cm).

With a double-edged parallel-sided blade with broad pointed tip; the lower guard inlaid with garnet cloisonné divided into four segments; accompanied by a rectangular scabbard slide inlaid with two rows of garnets and other stone; and a part of a sheet-silver chape.

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 number no.11819-206855.

See Behmer, E., Das zweischneidige Schwert der germanischen Völkerwanderungszeit, Stockholm, 1939; Lebedinsky, I., Armes et guerriers barbares au temps des grandes invasions, Paris, 2001; Lebedinsky, I., De l’epée scythe au sabre mongol, Paris, 2008, pp.114ff.

The sword belongs to the group of blades with wide guard coming from Eastern Europe, in particular from the regions of the Black Sea. The most striking examples are the sword of Dmytrivka (in the Zaporizhzhia), from a Hunnic grave, the guard and its extending reinforcement collar inlaid with precious stones; the sword of Lermontovskaia (North of Caucasus), from the grave of an Alan warrior (5th century A.D.), having the guard inlaid with coloured glass; the Pokrovsk-Voskhod swords (Region of Saratovo, on the Volga), from a Nomad grave of 5th century A.D., with garnet cloisonné on a gold background (Lebedinsky, 2001,pp.121ff.).