LOT 1235

Scandinavian Viking Boar's Head Brooch Collection

7TH-10TH CENTURY A.D.

1 3/8 - 2 in. (42.8 grams total, 35-49 mm).

A group of three Viking and pre-Viking boar's head brooches of different types comprising: a proto-animal-head brooch with swept profile, domed central panel and heater-shaped lateral flanges, catch to the foot; a proto-animal-head brooch decorated with domed central panel, two voids close to the upper edge, lateral conical domes to the corners, triangular snout with catch to the underside, zones of incised ornament;
shallow dots and plain ears; a classic boar's head with lanceolate panels to the upper corners, rows of impressed dots, pierced at the top and hollow to accept a separate backplate with pin-lugs and catch. [3]

UK gallery, acquired in the 2000s.
Property of an English gentleman.

Cf. Hammond B., British Artefacts Volume 2 - Middle Saxon and Viking, Witham, 2010, p.42, item 1.1.3-f, for a similar brooch to the boar's head with pricked detailing; also cf. MacGregor, A. et al., A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, item 3.29, for type; cf. MacGregor, A. et al., A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, items 3.1, 3.26, 3.5.

The brooch's origin in the late Roman crossbow brooch can be seen in the development of the final type.