
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in


Lot 132
A Rare Migration Period Iron Helmet (Spangenhelm), And Sword-Blade7th/8th Century
27 November 2013, 13:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £5,000 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Arms and Armour specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot


Client Services (UK)
Shipping (UK)
A Rare Migration Period Iron Helmet (Spangenhelm), And Sword-Blade
7th/8th Century
7th/8th Century
In excavated condition, the helmet formed of four curved triangular plates joined together on the outside by four riveted straps each with medial ridge and secured around the brim by a wide band; the tapering double-edged blade slightly hollowed over its entire length forming a shallow medial ridge along both sides and retaining its slender integral tang, now fitted with a reproduction wooden hilt (2)
17 cm. high and 65.5 cm. blade
17 cm. high and 65.5 cm. blade
Footnotes
See Bruno Thomas and Ortwin Gamber, Katalog Der Leitrüstkammer, I. Tell ..., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien, 1976, pp. 34-36. The items in Vienna have been attributed to the Alans, a group of Sarmatians, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millenium A.D. See Bernard S. Bachrach, A history of the Alans in the West: from their first appearance in the sources of classical antiquity through the early Middle Ages, 1973








