10th century AD. An iron double-edged sword of possibly Petersen's Type X, with pattern-welded blade and shallow fuller; boat-shaped crossguard gracefully curving towards the blade, tapered tang and tea-cosy pommel. See Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002; the specimen should belong to the swords classified by Petersen inside the X typology, despite the very unusual pommel, which forms a variant of this type; similar specimen with pattern-welded blade in the Musée de l'Armée de Paris (inv. JPO 2253) see Peirce, 2002, pp.118-119; a similar sword sold at Christie's London, Antique Arms and Armour, 16 December 2002, lot 46.629 grams, 59.5cm (23 1/2"). From an important private family collection of arms and armour; acquired on the European art market in the 1980s, and thence by descent; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato.