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_900x900.jpg "Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection")
_200x200.jpg "Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection")
.jpg "Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection")
LOT 1431
Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
21/8 - 3 3/8 in. (145 grams total, 55-85 mm).
Comprising: one heater-shaped with openwork raven motif to each face; one similar with openwork raven enmeshed in tendrils; one with fleur-de-lys to the centre of each upper edge and a lobed spur to each side; one with openwork quatrefoil to each face and knop finial to the apex. [4]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Paulsen, P., Schwertortbänder der Wikingerzeit, Stuttgart, 1953, items 6, 31, 74, 177, for types.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1431
Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection
Estimate £500 - 700€580 - 810 (for guidance only)$680 - 950 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
10th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Compressed spherical body, the upper part with impressed decoration consisting of two rows of Saint Andreas crossed inside a shield, with domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 382 grams, 10.2 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.
Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Viking Age Narrow Iron Axehead
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
With triangular-section long blade extending to a socket with small lateral flanges and rectangular extension to the rear. 229 grams, 12.6 cm
Property of London businessman, from his grandfather's collection after WW2; thence by family descent. From the private collection of John Lawton, Surrey, UK. Accompanied by a copy of a previous catalogue information page. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Tanged Spearhead
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
With long blade, shallow midrib, rectangular-section tang; engraved, reinforced shaft, and squared shoulders. 423 grams, 34.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
According to Gernez, this spear belongs to the group of tripartite spears with bulging biconcave ogival blade, a marked stop and tang, usually curved. The tomb KCG 14 of Carchemish, yielded a similar example, in association with spears and ceramic dated from the second half of the 3rd millennium. A very similar spear comes from a tomb at Tell Mozan. A larger example with a decoration of rings in relief on the stem belongs to the λ deposit of Byblos. Another spear, of similar form, presents a decoration of vertical lines on the stem. It was found in the tomb of the Lord of the Caprids at Ebla, making it the most recent in the series (around 1750 B.C.).
