LOT 0278

Central Balkans Silver Ring with Spiralled Terminals and Axe Motif Ornament

IRON AGE, 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

1 1/8in. (8.30 grams, 28.40 mm overall, 21.70 x 19.32 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)).

Robust ring of octagonal section, fashioned from drawn and hammered wire, the hoop terminating in tightly coiled spirals, which flank a rectangular ornament soldered across the bezel, recalling a miniature axe-head; the coils further reinforced with wrapped silver wire, securing the decorative composition.

Bonhams, Fine Antiquities, 4 July 1998, no.19.
Private collection, UK, 1990s.
with Rupert Wace Ancient Art Ltd, London.
with Ariadne Galleries, New York and London, acquired from the above at TEFAF 2014, New York.
Private American collection, acquired from the above, 23 January 2017.

See Tekija hoard, Upper Moesia: gold and silver ornaments with spiral terminals and miniature axe motifs (Popović, 1992; Mano-Zisi, 1957); Bare hoard, Serbia: bracelets with overlapped spirals and tool pendants (Popović – Borić-Brešković, 1994); Bela Reka hoard: continued use of filigree and granulation alongside spiral silver ornaments (Popović, 1996).

This ring belongs to the repertoire of autochthonous Balkan silverwork that flourished from the Roman conquest through the mid-3rd century. The type is closely related to ornaments documented in the Tekija and Bare hoards, where bracelets and rings with spiral-wrapped ends and miniature axes appear as apotropaic symbols. While the axe motif was deeply embedded in Dacian and Balkan visual culture, its execution here in silver, combined with wire wrapping and spiralled terminals, reflects the enduring influence of Hellenistic toreutics upon local craftsmanship. Rather than a Viking jewel, the ring finds its most convincing parallels among the Balkan-Danubian silver hoards of the early Roman Empire.