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Details

LOT 1488

Viking Age Bearded Axehead

9TH-10TH CENTURY AD

6 3/4 in. (838 grams, 17 cm).

A hand-forged side-axehead with square-section socket, broad blade offset with extension to the lower edge. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919, fig.32; Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.14, no.1.

Footnotes

The axe belongs to the type C of Petersen classification. They are axes of Eastern type, of narrow bearded type, characterised by an almost completely round hole for the shaft, rather than the more triangular or drop shape we see on the western typologies.

CONDITION

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AUCTIONS:

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LOT 1488

Viking Age Bearded Axehead

Sold for (Inc. bp): £351

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