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LOT 1061
Viking Age Iron Bearded Axehead
9TH CENTURY A.D.
5 in. (359 grams, 12.4 cm).
Hand-forged with triangular-section narrow blade widening to a broad bevelled edge with square chin, socket with lateral flanges and rounded panel to the rear. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
LiteratureCf. Thunmark-Nylén, L., Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands I.: Abbildungen der Graubfunde, Stockholm, 1992, pl.13, item 14.
FootnotesThe axe seems to belong to the typology of Viking side axes of Wheeler type B (Wheeler III / Rygh 559). Usually these bearded axeheads (skeggöks) had a longer edge, designed to split tree trunks into planks and beams, or heads in two parts. Some of the bearded axes were known as halfÞynna öx, the neck on such 'half thin axe' was thinly forged, to make it lighter.
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AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Bronze Javelin Head
Late 3rd millennium B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Featuring a tripartite weapon with short, narrow leafy blade, elongated stem decorated by embossed geometric lines and folded tang. 220 grams, 32.3 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The points within this typology are biconvex or leaf-shaped, not very sharp. These types of spears have been found in the tombs of Palestine from Tell el-'Ajjul (tomb 227) to the sites of the central plains and the banks of Jordan: Yavne, 'Ain Samiya, Jebel Qa'aqir, tombs G 83 and M 13 of Jericho, tombs 2100 and 2111 of Lachish. All are dated to the last two centuries of the 3rd millennium. -
Roman 'Pompey the Great' Lead Slingshot
1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Biconical lead slingshot (glans) with inscription in Latin letters 'CN' (Cneius) 'MAG' (Magnus) on one side, and 'IMP' for 'IMPERATOR' (victorious general) to the other side, i.e Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Imperator (Pompey the Great the victorious general). 47 grams, 39 mm
Ex M.Cummings, UK, 1990s.
The shot (Völling type 1C) is marked with the abbreviated name of Gnaeus Pompey; it was used in quantity at the Battle of Monda (or Munda) against Julius Caesar, 17th March 45 BC. The projectiles were made of different materials: lead (glandes) or in pottery or stone (lapides missiles). Sometimes they were signed with the name of the general, like our specimen. -
Scythian Iron Akinakes Sword with Decorations
4th century B.C.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
Of Central Asian typology, strong hilt and narrow ogival guard with Steppe style ornamentation, tipped hilt, triangular tapering blade fitted with a central triangular blood channel with sixteen grooves. 481 grams, 58.5 cm
Ex private collection of Mr M.B., Mainz, Germany, since the 1980s. Acquired from the above, 2004.
The akinakes was a characteristic Scythian type of weaponry, which was used throughout their history (7th-3rd centuries B.C.). With the departure of the Scythians from the steppe in the 3rd century B.C., and the appearance of the Sarmatian tribes in the Northern Black Sea region in the 2nd-1st centuries B.C., Sarmatian types of bladed weapons spread in the region. This particular shape of akinakes belongs to the nomadic cultures of Central Asia.
