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LOT 1488
Viking Age Iron Socketted Hooked Axehead
CIRCA 9TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
6 in. (460 grams, 15 cm).
With long, deeply curved blade, short neck, socket with triangular wings above and below; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.
LiteratureCf. Sedov, B.B., Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija, Moscow, 1987, plate CXXIV, item 1.
FootnotesThese axes are typical of Baltic workmanship. During this age, the axes were the favourite weapons of many Baltic people, including the Curonian army which included lightly armed soldiers who fought with spears, shields, fighting knives and axes. A heavily armed soldier could also carry a sword, a helmet, a shield, and a wide-bladed axe.
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AUCTIONS:
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Viking Age Iron Socketted Hooked Axehead
Circa 9th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
With long, deeply curved blade, short neck, socket with triangular wings above and below; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. 460 grams, 15 cm
Cleaned, conserved and restored.
From the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.
These axes are typical of Baltic workmanship. During this age, the axes were the favourite weapons of many Baltic people, including the Curonian army which included lightly armed soldiers who fought with spears, shields, fighting knives and axes. A heavily armed soldier could also carry a sword, a helmet, a shield, and a wide-bladed axe. -
Amlash Type Bronze Spearhead
12th-11th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Leaf-shaped blade and rectangular-section shank developing from the raised midrib, flared below with a rectangular-section tang. 300 grams, 36.5cm
Ex London art market, 1980-1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The weapon belongs to the type 1 of the spear-head classification of Khorasani, mainly from Marlik or Amlash areas. Similar pieces have been dated by Stutzinger to 1200-1100 B.C. -
Greek Lead Slingshot
3rd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved legend 'ΛY-P-N' = maybe ΛYKOΦ-PONO = Lykophronos (name). 25.6 grams, 31 mm
Acquired on the German art market before 2000. Private collection, Munich, Germany.
The leaden bullets, which were thrown from slings, were called in Greek molivdainai (μολύβδαιναι), and in Latin glandes; the former indicating the material ‘lead’, the latter the shape ‘acorns’. These bullets were cast in a mould and bore letters or devices, or both, on two sides or on only one. In form they were more like an almond than an acorn, but many are pointed at both ends.
