Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Gilt Bronze Borre Interlaced Brooch

A silver pendant formed as a miniature bucket with applied filigree bands to the strap handle and body. 2.57 grams, 24 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.

Octagonal in shape displaying two silver inlaid crosses and letters 'Γ A', each inlay traced with dimples. 63 grams, 3 cm



Acquired at a London antiquities fair in the 1990s.

Within a filigree border; suspension loop above. 2.6 grams, 32 mm



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

In the Gnezdovo Hoard, 46 beads of sheet silver, most with granulation of Slav character, others with filigree, were part of one of the greatest Viking treasure found in the East. The jewellery, most of Scandinavian or Slav character, show the great mix of style and decoration which ornamented the dress and the garments of the Vikings in the East.