Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 1426
Viking Iron Bearded Axehead
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
5 7/8 in. (390 grams, 15 cm).
With curved edge to the blade, square chin and scooped underside, rounded socket. [No Reserve]
Provenance
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
Literature
Cf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.14 (7).
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Western Asiatic Spiked Bronze Macehead Group
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,500
Comprising: one with two unaligned rows, each with four horizontal spikes, topped by a tooth helping to secure the mace to a wooden shaft; the second with a long socket and a row of six spikes, three pointed and three rounded, double tipped edge for securing the shaft; the third with six horizontal spikes; all with solid heads and hollow tubular sockets; of North-West Iranian typology. 1.35 kg total, 10-15 cm
Acquired from Artemis Gallery, Munich in 1995. European private collection. 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.11997-211853.
A variety of similar bronze mace heads have been recovered in Hasanlu and Marlik, mainly of spiked variety. Excavations at 8th-7th century B.C. War Kabud and Chamzhi-Mumah in Luristan have produced related types, with smaller spikes or knobs and with an elongated socket, like one of our examples. These spiked maces are a specifically Iranian type. In general, they were used from the 9th century B.C. although some scholars support the thesis of their use in the late 2nd-early 1st millennium based on finds from Marlik. -
Medieval Iron Arrowhead
Circa 14th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Composed of a rectangular-section tip with a single barb, twisted shank and a tubular socket with a single piercing. 7.85 grams, 12 cm
Found Norfolk, UK. -
Luristan Bronze Horse Bit with Animals
Circa 11th-7th century B.C.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £700
Comprising a pair of ram-shaped cheek-pieces with a hole through the body for the straight mouthpiece with looped terminals. 690 grams, 17.5 cm wide
From a collection formed in Paris in the 1990s.
The horse bits were transformed by Luristan people in to expressions of applied art. Metalworkers employed animal motifs, both realistic and imaginary, for their cheek-pieces. The question of whether these horse bits were for real use or only for use in a funerary context is superfluous, as signs of wear have been documented, and the goads and loops on interiors are functionally designed. The use of such horse bits is clearly documented in Assyrian reliefs of the time of Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.).