Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Interlaced Beast Stirrup Apex Mount

Miniature drum-shaped vessel with strap handle, the body decorated with granule clusters. 1.49 grams, 15 mm



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

Pendants in the form of miniature buckets have been found in a number of pagan Anglo-Saxon and Viking contexts and are generally made of bronze or iron, with gold examples being rare; three gold examples were found with the hoard from Hoen, Norway. Bronze bucket amulets have been found at Driffield in Yorkshire, and Vimose bog in Denmark, among other places. In form they represent wooden buckets bound with bronze or iron bands which have been found in Anglo-Saxon and Viking graves and are believed to have held mead or ale and were used to replenish the cups from which warriors drank. As amulets they probably represent the ecstatic power of alcoholic drink and the role of women as the dispensers of these precious beverages.

Modelled in the half-round, profile figure with drinking horn, attached to a fragment of leather strap. 2.84 grams, 34 mm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Comprising a round-section tapering shank with ribbed collar to each end; polyhedral block to each end, quatrefoil bit with openwork design, pierced suspension lug. 43.8 grams, 11.6 cm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.