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LOT 1054
Viking Age Socketted Iron Spearhead
9TH-10TH CENTURY A.D.
11 1/4 in. (126 grams, 28.5 cm).
Type E with leaf-shaped blade with curved edges, socket tending towards a square internal cross-section and decorated with chiselled longitudinal grooves.
ProvenanceEx private collection of Mr M.B., Mainz, Germany, since the 1980s.
Acquired from the above, 2004.
Cf. Hjardar, K. and Vike, V., Vikings at war, Oxford-Philadelphia, 2016, pp.175-180.
FootnotesThe spearheads of type E, of which this type is, belongs to the first group of Viking spearheads, i.e. the Frankish spearheads, which appeared between 750 and 950 A.D. These account for one third of the spears found in Viking sites; most of them are pattern forged with herringbone design.
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Heavy Western Asiatic Bronze Axehead
Late 3rd millennium B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
With swept blade, large socket with shallow raised circumferential rib and a vertical rib to the rear. 741 grams, 14.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
In the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C., the most widespread types of axes were those made for splitting and those for cutting. In the last third of this millennium there emerged a sharp differentiation between such axes. Such a sharp division by function should be associated with the influence of the Syro-Palestinian tradition. Such differentiation, in the absence of some multifunctional forms can be observed from the end of the 4th millennium B.C. and during the 3rd millennium B.C. -
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Medieval Iron Kidney Dagger
Late 15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Featuring a wedge-shaped blade and a lobed handle; the hilt fitted with an iron plate bending down to form points on each side of the blade, pommel with a discoid brass plate decorated with an incised flower motif. 307 grams, 46 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
The term 'ballock dagger' was used in medieval times to describe a dagger with a grip bearing a considerable resemblance to a phallic symbol. It was also called 'kidney dagger' during the Victorian times. The constant characteristic is the presence of two roundish and symmetrical bulbs at the guard, with the grip itself emerging upward between them and flaring slightly towards the top, sometimes being surmounted by a cap. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Group
10th-9th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Comprising mainly tanged arrowheads, the most of them having large elongated triangular blades and raised midrib, sharp central groove, cylindrical or squared stem for the shaft, barbed shoulders and convex sides; others with lanceolate head and rounded shoulders with long tang and foliate-section. 103 grams total, 29-68 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
The most of these arrowheads, having a lozenge-section midrib with thin blades filed sharp at the edges, are typical of the early Iron Age in Luristan. These arrowheads seem to belong to the type V, subcategory types A, C and D according to the classification of Khorasani and Negahban. In the four categories of triangular bronze arrowheads from Luristan, Marlik, and Northern Iran individuated by Negahban, subtypes C and D of type V are larger arrow or javelin heads, C with barbed shoulders and D with round shoulders. Subtype A is substantially similar to C, but smaller. Similar arrowheads are also visible in the Western Iberian and Balkan cultures in the Early Iron Age.
