Viking Age Iron Long-Bladed Axehead

Two panels from a scale armour coat composed of more than two hundred overlapping bronze scales, each mounted onto a custom-made leather panel for purposes of display; the scales formed in different series, some having holes only in the upper part, some with three holes in the upper part and two holes to the left, and others showing three upper holes and one side hole. 255 grams total, 15.2-16.5 cm



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 a search certificate number no.12044-216404.

The favourite armour of the Scythian noblemen was composed of scales, usually protecting the torso, sometimes the entire body (kataphraktoi). The Scythians found that the most efficient method was to arrange the overlapping ‘fish-scales’ as a corselet made of a number of bronze and iron plates, which then protected the wearer against sword and spear thrusts. Our scales correspond well to bronze scales found in May 1961 in an accidentally destroyed burial in a barrow, near the village of Nadezhda Sovetsky district. They were discovered together with iron scales, a Greek Corinthian helmet, fragments of an amphora, five arrowheads and fragments of an iron sword. Most of these bronze scales were oblong in shape, with a sub-rectangular upper end and a rounded lower end, but slightly bigger than our scales.

Piriform body with horizontal bands to the shoulder, flanged collar, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 458 grams, 18 cm



From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 1990s onwards.

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.

Narrow T-shaped blade with curved edge, large D-shaped socket with lateral triangular flanges and rectangular extension to the rear. 588 grams, 17 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.

Slavic battle-axes also came into use in Scandinavia, especially in the Eastern part of Gotland, Denmark and Sweden. One of the types was a T-shaped axe with a broad blade. There were narrow-bladed types too, described as being very light. Another characteristic of some of the Eastern axes was an extra long hammer or more rarely a secondary blade protruding from the back of axehead.