Details

LOT 0333

Viking Iron 'ULFBERH+T' Silver and Laten Inlaid Sword

9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.

38 1/2 in. (1.1 kg, 98 cm).

A double-edged Petersen Type X sword, tapering blade with shallow fullers and wide cutting edges, the fuller bearing an inlaid inscription of 'ULFBERH+T' to one side and remains of 'II IXI' (or an interlace pattern) to the other side; the lower and upper-guards, as well as the pommel inlaid with vertical lines of silver and copper, the pommel of tea-cosy type divided into section with well-marked lines. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s.
Westminster collection, central London, UK.

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. 12617-235587.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Oakeshott, R.E., The Archaeology of the weapons, London, 1960; Jakobsson, M., Krigarideologi och vikingatida svardstypologi, Stockholm, 1992; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002; the sword finds good parallels in various similar Viking age specimens, a similar sword is in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris (inv. no. JPO 2253, s. Peirce, 2002, pp. 118-119); for the inscriptions see Peirce, 2002, pl.III, lett.2bc.