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LOT 0314
Viking Age Sword with Engraved Mammen Style Hilt
8TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.
35 1/2 in. (955 grams, 90.5 cm).
Pattern-welded, double-edged tapering blade with a tapering tang; the boat-shaped lower guard, pommel, and upper guard decorated in Mammen Style with silver inlay; professionally conserved. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the Bornhauser collections.
Ex A. Green private collection.
Ex Balticum.
with Army of Tennessee Relics, Knoxville, USA.
Accompanied by an Army of Tennessee certificate of authenticity dated 5th October 2017.
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 search certificate number no.12021-214091.
Exhibited at Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 3rd February-9th March 2024; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefact on display.
LiteratureCf. Lorange, A.L., Den Yngre Jernalders Svaerd, Bergen, 1889, pls.I,VI; Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919, fig.52; Oakeshott, E., The Archaeology of Weapons, Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry, Woodbridge, 1960 (1999); Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Woodbridge, 2002, sword from National Museum of Ireland, pp.28-29.
FootnotesThis beautiful Viking sword (probably a river find) shows engraved decoration in Mammen style (700-800 A.D.) and is an early type A according to the Petersen’s typology and classification. This category of swords evolved from the swords of the Vendel Period in Scandinavia, especially from the Swedish ones. Petersen originally individuated eight examples of this sword’s typology, one of the first categories of Viking swords, although these swords were also widely used in the Carolingian Empire.
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LOT 0314
Viking Age Sword with Engraved Mammen Style Hilt
Sold for (Inc. bp): £6,500
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Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With triangular-section narrow blade widening to a broad bevelled edge and square chin, flared socket. 221 grams, 11.1 cm
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The more commonly used weapons of the Finno-Ugrian people were axes, commonly found in all Finnic areas, as well as spears. Iron axeheads of this typology show a sub-trapezoidal asymmetrical blade, often perforated through the centre. -
Western Asiatic Bronze Spearhead
1500-1000 B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
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Acquired in Europe in 1997. European private collection. -
Elamite Bronze Cudgel with Animals
Circa mid 3rd-early 2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £400
With ribbed terminals; the upper body with three relief panels of herringbone design, the main body decorated with spikes, three lion bodies arranged vertically, and three ram-head protomes under the central herringbone panel; mounted on a custom-made stand. 650 grams total, 18.5 cm high (26.5 cm high including stand)
Ex Kuizenga collection, Netherlands. Acquired in Hamburg, Germany, 22 December 1995.
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