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LOT 0275
Viking Sword with Inlaid Cross and Orb Mark
CIRCA 10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
36 1/2 in. (752 grams, 93 cm).
With three-lobe pommel and decorated guard; the blade 45mm wide at the upper end, gently tapering with fuller to both faces, rounded tip, indented ring to one face with silver inlay, scaphoid-section lower guard with two rows of shallow pellets to each face gilt or latten inlay; flat tapering tang; pommel of Petersen's Type S with traces of vertical inlaid wire.
ProvenanceFrom the family collection of a London gentleman; formed in the late 1940s-1950s; thence by descent.
Accompanied by metallurgic analytical report number 114366/569, written by metallurgist Dr Brian Gilmour of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford.
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.12020-214090.
Exhibited at Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 14th March-9th June 2024; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefact on display.
LiteratureSee Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Oakeshott, R.E., The Archaeology of the weapons, London, 1960; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002; Hjardar, K. & Vike, V., Vikings at war, Oxford-Philadelphia, 2016, pp.169-170, for the type; the pommel finds good parallels in various similar Viking age specimens, like the sword from Mixnam’s pit, Chertsey, today at the Chertsey Museum (Peirce, 2002, pp.98ff.).
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Stone Ballista Catapult Shot
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Roughly spherical stone cobble with impact scar. 973 grams, 81 mm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The operation of the onager (Latin for 'wild ass') is first mentioned in 353 A.D. by Ammianus Marcellinus in his Res Gestae and more fully in Vegetius's Epitoma Rei Militaris probably written in the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (378-395 A.D.). -
Luristan Bronze Arrowhead
Circa 13th-7th century B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
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Migration Period Iron Spatha Sword with Garnet Inlaid Hilt
5th-7th century A.D.Estimate: £5,000 - 7,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,800
Comprising a double-edged parallel-sided blade showing battle nicks on both cutting edges, medium length tapering tang; lentoid-shaped lower-guard with inset garnets to one side; accompanied by an amber sword bead with a bronze stud with garnet inlay. 753 grams total, 1.9-80 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. 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 no. 12063-217911.
This type of swords (cf. Lebedinsky 2001, p.117) usually had stones hanging from the pommel or hilt, like the one preserved here. This typology was widespread in central Europe by the Huns and there are also specimens attested in Gaul in the 5th century.
