Details

LOT 0918

Scandinavian Pre-Viking Box Brooch

7TH CENTURY AD

1 3/4" (33 grams, 44mm).

A bronze box brooch with traces of original gilding, discoid in plan with slightly tapering sidewall with a band of dense interlace; the upper face with a triskele of beasts each executed in three-strand banding with profile bird-head, pellet to the neck and pellet eye, all surrounding a central pellet; hollow to the reverse with catchplate and pin-lug, remains of ferrous pin.

Provenance

Property of a gentleman; acquired from an antiques dealer in the 1990s; formerly in a 19th century collection.

Literature

Cf. box brooches in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in MacGregor, A. et al. A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, item 1.1; Arwidsson, G. Valsgärde 7, Uppsala, 1977.

Supplied with a positive X-Ray Fluorescence analysis certificate.

Footnotes

Stylistically the present brooch is a very early type of box brooch, lower and flatter than the examples from the Viking age. These normally feature a slightly domed upper face divided into quadrants with beast-head detailing but this example features a triskele of Style II zoomorphic motifs. The antecedents of the design appear to lie in the Uppland region of Sweden and specifically such items as the shield-boss found in the Mound 7 ship-burial at Valsgärde (Arwidsson, 1977).

CONDITION

VETTING:

TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process

AUCTIONS:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.