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LOT 1055
Viking Period Bearded Type Axehead
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
7 7/8 in. (855 grams, 20 cm).
A hand-forged iron skeggöx (bearded axe) with asymmetrical triangular section narrow blade widening to a broad bevelled edge with square chin, curved edge, flared wings to the scooped socket and dorsal bar. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.
Cf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.14, item 3; Sedov, B.B., Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija, Moscow, 1987, table V, items 16, 17, 20.
FootnotesIron axeheads of this typology show a sub-trapezoidal asymmetrical blade, often perforated through the centre. They are characterised by two projections spurs from the top and the bottom of the back of the shaft-hole.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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Western Asiatic Paddle-Shaped Axehead
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
A copper-alloy axehead with curved cylindrical butt and socket, waisted neck and D-shaped cutting edge; incised scale decoration to the socket. 353 grams, 12 cm
Early 1990s London collection. Acquired on the UK art market. From a private collection, Lancashire, UK.
These kind of axes had a simple but aesthetic form, with the round socket placed at the edge of the rounded butt which tapered smoothly to a flat, splayed crescent-shaped blade. -
Migration Period Spatha Sword Blade with Fittings
Circa 4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
A military assemblage comprising: a double-edged spatha with a lentoid parallel-sided iron blade and pointed tip, battle nicks to both cutting edges; long tang with a bronze fastening rivet in situ; oblate chalcedony pommel; gilt copper-alloy chape scabbard fitting with fastening holes and a pair of round scabbard or baldric fittings. 937 grams total, 5-81.3 cm
Fine condition
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector. 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 a search certificate number no.11587-198852.
Prestigious swords with richly trimmed sheaths, guards and hilts of the Great Migration Period on the Cimmerian Bosphorus are very few, although some specimens have been excavated from Kerch, Phanagoria, Hermonassa and Dzhurga-Oba. They were either custom-made or received as war booty. This sword belongs to a group of spathae of late Roman typology spread among the Germanic and Nomad foederati, and garrison troops of the Northern Black Sea and Bosphorus. -
Babylonian Bronze Axehead
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
A bronze duck-billed shaft-hole axe head featuring a curved, beak-shaped blade with two pierced eyes and a raised median ridge. 204 grams, 10.5 cm
Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private Swiss collection since 1998.
