LOT 0300

Large Pre-Viking Gold Bracteate Medallion with Interlaced Snakes

5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.

2 3/8 in. (13.04 grams, 61 mm).

Executed using the repoussé technique, depicting interlaced snakes or possibly Jörmungandr, the world serpent; applied suspension loop with repoussé chevrons and pellets, faux ropework border around the whole.

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

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11729-200423.

Cf. Glob., P.V., Danefae, Copenhagen, 1980, no.60; Various, Riflessi di Roma, L’Impero Romano e Barbari del Baltico (Reflections of Rome, the Roman Empire and the Barbarians of the Baltic), Roma, 1992, pp.218ff., no.4 D.

The bracteate belongs to the main type D, showing an image of tetramorphic monsters. Probably here the representation refers to Jörmungandr, the serpent of Midgard, son of Loki and killer of Thor, protagonist of Ragnarok - the downfall of the gods. The art of the bracteate medallions is one of the few contemporary sources for the pre-Christian religion of the Nordic countries. It demonstrates that ancient Germanic mythology, although known from later texts, was built on a tradition dating back to at least the 5th-6th centuries A.D. The function of these medallions was linked to the social position of the wearer in Germanic society.