Large Scandinavian Viking Bronze Shield Pendant

A large bear's tooth set into a copper-alloy pendant setting, decorated with corded wire and a circumferential frieze of filigree loops, sturdy suspension loop to the cap. 42.5 grams, 94 mm



Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. London, UK, collector. with TimeLine Auctions, Essex, 6 September 2022, no.394. Private collection, London, UK.

With large square plaque, low-relief design of serpents entwined on a pounced field. 2.75 grams, 20.01 mm overall, 17.73 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14)



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.

Miniature drum-shaped vessel with strap handle, extensive filigree decoration on the body. 2.77 grams, 21 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.