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LOT 1328
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Stirrup Mount with Interlaced Serpents
10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
1 1/4 in. (22.3 grams, 32 mm).
Squat-bodied and triangular in form; short tab with rivet hole to apex, ledge with rivet to reverse of the lower edge, displaying high-relief interlaced serpent design with head above the lower edge.
ProvenanceAcquired early 1990s.
From an East Anglian private collection.
See Williams, D., Late Saxon Stirrup-Strap Mounts, York, 1997.
FootnotesThe mount is not included in Williams's study of Anglo-Scandinavian stirrup mounts, which is now more than twenty years old. However, it is evidently an example of Class B, while lacking the bear-mask and openwork features. Its design appears to derive from a Class A type (Williams's nos.380, 383) which shares the feature of the facing serpent-head placed centrally on the lower edge.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1328
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Stirrup Mount with Interlaced Serpents
Estimate £400 - 600€460 - 700 (for guidance only)$540 - 810 (for guidance only)
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Pre-Viking Silver-Gilt Mythical Beast Helmet Mount
Circa 5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £800
In the form of an equine creature modelled in the round with long beak and arched neck; panels of gilded Style I ornament to each lateral face, stepped band with punched detailing extending from the ears to the chest; rounded rump with pointillé detailing; hollow mounting socket to the underside. 13.6 grams, 42 mm
Acquired early 1990s. From an East Anglian private collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11895-204402.
The socket on the underside suggests that the mount was placed prominently, perhaps on the crest of a helmet. Zoomorphic helmet mounts are known e.g. the boars on the Benty Grange and Wollaston examples, though these are not so detailed as the present example. The item is too small to be seen from afar but is ornate enough to attract attention at close quarters. Stylistically, the piece might have been made in southern Scandinavia or in an Anglian area of England in the later 5th or 6th century A.D. -
Viking Age Bronze Figure
8th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Representing a person with simple facial detailing and pierced hand, slightly domed. 5.6 grams, 34 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Penannular Brooch
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
With square-headed terminals decorated with punched ring-and-dot motifs, free-running pin, brooch body with carinated upper face. 13.1 grams, 38 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
