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LOT 0303
Pre-Viking Gold Aroma Bucket Pendant
4TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
7/8 in. (2.24 grams, 21 mm).
Adorned with filigree to the sidewall and handle, a polished red glass gem to the base held in a toothed setting. [No Reserve]
ProvenancePrivate collection formed in Europe in the 1980s.
Westminster collection, central London, UK.
See Khrapunov, I. & Stylegar, F.A., Inter Ambo Maria, Contacts between Scandinavia and the Crimea in the Roman Period; Бажан И, А., Каргапольцев С, Ю, 1989, Об одной категории украшений-амулетов римского времени в Восточной Европе, СА, No.3; also see Meaney, A., Anglo-Saxon Amulets and Curing Stones, Oxford, BAR British Series 96, 1981, p.166-168, for discussion of the type.
FootnotesPendants 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.
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Viking Age Bronze Dress Pin with Cross
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The discoid arm terminals and shallow circular motifs, suspension lug below and tapering pin. 13.6 grams, 11 cm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Trefoil Mount
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Composed of pelta-shaped cells and central circular dimple; lug to reverse. 18.2 grams, 42 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Bronze Urnes Style Mount Collection
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £53
Comprising: one C-shaped mount with tendril detailing; two irregular pierced pendants with beast-head suspension lug; one lead master for making pendant moulds. 41.7 grams total, 29-46 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
The comparatively recent finds from Lincoln, Hemel Hempstead and Grantham have considerably augmented the number of objects found in England decorated in the Urnes style, the last art style of the Vikings, and indicate that English metalworkers could produce objects of high quality. The employment of these mounts was probably linked with the fastening of puttees around the calves, the so-called wickelbander. Evidence for similar mounts as fastening pieces comes from Leyre (Danemark) and Novgorod (Ryurik Gorodische), and many other localities.
