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LOT 0261
Viking Age Iron Sword of Petersen Type X
10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
36 1/2 in. (1.2 kg, 92.5 cm).
Comprising a fine double-edged tapering blade, shallow fullers and defined cutting edges showing traces of employment; short, rectangular-section lower guard and tapering tang, tea-cosy pommel of early type; some restoration.
ProvenanceAcquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus, 1384, Waffen-und Kunst-Sammlung Karl Gimbel, Baden-Baden, 1904, no.330; Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Oakeshott, E., Records of the Medieval Sword, Woodbridge, 1991; Renaud, J., Les Vikings en France, Rennes, 2000; Roesdahl, E., Wilson D.M., From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe 800 to 1200 (22nd Council of Europe Exhibition), Copenhagen, 1992; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002.
FootnotesThe sword is Petersen type X (Petersen, 1919, pp.158ff) and Oakeshott type XI (1991, pp.53ff.), finding good parallels in various similar Viking and Norman age specimens (Peirce, 2002, pp.115 ff.). The overall proportions of our specimen are eye-catching and it is strikingly similar to a pattern-welded sword found with a large number of other objects, at Camp de Péran, Côtes-d'Armor, France, in a 10th century context, probably linked with the early Norman settlers in Normandy or Norman raids in Brittany (Roesdhal, Wilson, 1992, p.321, cat. n.359; Renaud, 2000, p.100).
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LOT 0261
Viking Age Iron Sword of Petersen Type X
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
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Avar-Byzantine Silver-Gilt Sword Belt Mount Group
7th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £80
Comprising six mounts: four 'floral' plates composed of six raised pellet-in-ring motifs arranged around a central hole, some mounting lugs remaining to the reverses; an openwork knotwork type with three mounting lugs to reverse; a hollow-formed rectangular plate with one rounded end, granulated borders framing granulated clusters arranged in orderly rows around a central arm and piercing; granulated border to reverse. 25.1 grams total, 18-48 mm
Fine condition.
Acquired in the 1980s-1990s. Ex an important central London gallery, London W1.
This type of belt element decorated with granulation, is present in the Avar graves of the second half of the 7th century, and was most likely produced in the workshops of the Eastern Roman Empire, from where they reached the Avar lands as imperial gifts (tomb of Kunbàboni) or spoils of war. They were part of multiple belts, to which sabers and knives were attached, commonly used among Avars, Bulgars and Romans during the 7th and 8th centuries AD. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Socketted Axehead
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
The cheeks with a straight upper edge and curved lower one, elliptical socket and lozengiform butt. 302 grams, 14.6 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
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Roman Bronze Armour Squama Scales Group
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Mixed group of semi-rigid bronze scales with scalloped lower edges, pierced for attachment; together with two small panels of articulated lamina scales. 30 grams total, 10-65 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s. The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
A new form of rigid scale-armour, typified by pieces found in Britannia (Corbridge, Carlisle), Pannonia (Musov), Moesia (Iron Gates) and in various other provinces of the empire, was introduced earlier in the Antonine Period, and continued for all of the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. The new body protection was realised with scales attached by wire to each of their four neighbouring scales. These new scales tended to be not only very small, but also long and slender and needed to be carefully shaped around the neck.
