Merovingian Gold Hoop Earring with Garnets

Miniature drum-shaped vessel with strap handle, beaded wire bands to top and bottom of sidewall, filigree loop ornament. 2.35 grams, 21 mm



Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

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.

Sub-triangular with convex sides, integral tri-lobed apex loop at the top and two rivet holes at the base with ferrous remains; front of the mount with a zoomorphic design of two beasts joined together by a knot-like devise giving the appearance of linked collars, the bodies of the beasts forming the sides of the mount with their heads back to back in the middle lower part; Williams Class A, Type 2B. 25.5 grams, 48 mm



Found near Baumber, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, UK, on Sunday 8 September 2024. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.SWYOR-515FAB. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Comprising: two elliptical bronze tortoise brooches, each domed with low-relief ornament of an interlaced panel, wide flange with bead detailing; catch, pin-hinge and pendant attachment bar to the reverse; three swags of graduated beads (restrung) - long tubular corrugated beads in pearlescent white flanking individual black seed beads, with spacer bar and wire coils to each end. 149 grams total, 7.7-20 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.