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LOT 1364
Pre-Viking Gold Filigree Aroma Bucket Pendant
4TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
1/2 in. (1.19 grams, 13 mm).
Cup-shaped in sheet gold with applied filigree detailing and granule clusters. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
LiteratureSee 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 Pseudo Ring Brooch
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Featuring beast heads and interlace motifs; pin lugs and catchplate to reverse. 29.4 grams, 76 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Contorted Gripping Beast Pendant
Late 10th-early 11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Scandinavian pendant of Norelund type with integral suspension loop; the openwork plaque with three-band border and four panels, internal stylised zoomorph with hatched panel to the hip, gripping hands to the body and border, facing mask below the loop. 6.22 grams, 34 mm
Acquired on the German art market before 2000. From an old Munich collection.
There is a class of discoid pendants with banded borders and contorted figures found in the hinterland of the Baltic region, associated with the influence of Scandinavian settlers. The design of these items recalls specific elements of Scandinavian art - for example, the 'gripping hands' motif is a feature of the Oseberg Style named after the famous Norwegian ship-burial. Oseberg Style is associated with the beginnings of the Viking age, and was current in the 9th century when Scandinavian settlers began to establish centres of trade and political control in the area of the rivers Dnieper and Volga. The motif has been interpreted as a horse and linked with various legends and mythic figures, including Sigurð's fight with the dragon Fafnir. -
Viking Bronze Urnes Style Entwined Beasts Mount
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Formed with an openwork design of entwined beasts or an interlace motif in Urnes style; counter-sunk rivet hope to apex; likely a stirrup mount. 18.3 grams, 40 mm
Found Berkshire, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BERK-0FA732.
