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LOT 1653
Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection
10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
2 - 2 3/4 in. (178 grams total, 51-70 mm).
Comprising: a long and narrow tongue-shaped type (Paulsen's Gruppe V 2A, Untergruppe C) with scooped upper edge and palmette motif to the centre, spurs to the a vertical band of reserved stylised ring-chain decoration on a pounced field, long lateral straps and a knop finial;
a heater-shaped type (Paulsen's Gruppe I 2, Untergruppe C) with central openwork panel displaying a bird in flight with the fan-shaped tail marked with radiating lines, guilloche bands to the outer sides, upper edges angled and with lobe at the apex; an elongated type (Gruppe V 1) with low-relief pointillé bands to each face and a palmette at the apex of the central spur; a long tongue-shaped type (Paulsen's Gruppe I 1) with an openwork centre and Ringerike Style bird formed with looped bands, pellets to the pinions, a triangular in plan head joined to the inner faces of the ropework border forming the upper edge of the chape, with a wolf's head at the apex and stepped knop finial; a single plaque (Gruppe V 1) from a two-part chape, long and rounded with palmate detailing to the upper edge, tendrils and scrolls to the body, pierced in two places to accept rivets. [5]
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
LiteratureSee Paulsen, P., Schwertortbänder der Wikingerzeit, Stuttgart, 1953, items 23, 135, 137, 178.
FootnotesMost of these chapes originate in Sweden or the western Baltic according to Paulsen's classification.
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Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Pendant
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Lentoid in plan with openwork image of a small bird being seized by a larger predator; loop to apex. 5.42 grams, 39 mm
Found Norfolk, UK. -
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Stirrup Mount with Pseudo-Runes
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Williams's Class A Type 1 with trapezoidal plaque and narrow ledge to the rear; incised geometric design following the outline of the mount with symmetrical panels; to the neck five vertical lines, perhaps pseudo-runes. 19.88 grams, 50 mm
Property of a gentleman; acquired in the 1970s.
The markings on the neck appear to conform to the shapes of four runes, being inverted chevrons to the edges (runic 'U'), a character of two verticals and a sloping cross-bar (runic 'H'), and a simple vertical stroke (runic 'I'). However, the outer chevrons are formed as the junction of the inner border with a vertical while the cross-bar appears to be a later abrasion. The form of 'H' with a single cross-bar is very early (2nd -5th century AD) and is almost unknown in England, while by the 8th century this form had been replaced in Scandinavia by a rune formed as a vertical with a small saltire to the centre (like an asterisk). It is nevertheless possible that these marks were intended as a form of pseudo-runic text. -
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Stirrup Apex Mount with Beasts
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,040
Broad and shallow with narrow pierced ledge to reverse, Williams's Class B; openwork scene of two quadrupeds addorsed with legs resting on the outer edge of the frame and heads turned towards the median column; three loops to the curved upper edge. 35.2 grams, 52 mm
Found Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK.
This exact from does not appear in Williams's study, although examples with addorsed animals do appear in the 'Unclassified' section (p.102-4). The general shape and proportions are consistent with his Class B examples.
