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LOT 1714
Pre-Viking Silver Filigree Aroma Bucket Pendant
CIRCA 4TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (2.77 grams, 21 mm).
Miniature drum-shaped vessel with strap handle, extensive filigree decoration on the body. [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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Opening Bid: £500
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From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Bracelet
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Penannular in form with twisted shank and broad spatulate finials, hatched ornament to outer face. 50 grams, 74 mm
Property of a North West London, UK, gallery; formerly in a 1980s collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman. -
Viking Age Iron Socketted Bearded Axehead
Circa 10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £598
With slender ridged blade and chin to the lower edge, round socket with rectangular flanges, flattened rear edge; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. 788 grams, 17.5 cm
Cleaned, conserved and restored.
From the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.
The type appears to be related to the Y-type of Viking axes. Slavic battle-axes also came into use in Scandinavia, especially in the eastern part of Gotland, Sweden and Denmark. The old Norse word Taparöx probably come from Topor, the Slavic word for axe. Eastern axes are also characterised by an almost completely round hole for the shaft.