LOT 0307

Scandinavian Viking Bronze Bird-Shaped Brooch

CIRCA 7TH CENTURY A.D.

3 in. (46.6 grams, 77 mm).

Domed plate brooch formed as a bird in plan with roundels for eyes, beaded collar, folded wings with linear detailing, ribbed tail; pin-lugs and chord to the underside, remains of catch; ornament in Style II/C, stylistically classified as Mogens Ørsnes’s Type D.

Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s.
Westminster collection, central London, UK

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13461-261727.

See full discussion of the type in Jennbert, K., The mania of the time - Falconry and bird brooches at Uppåkra and beyond, in On the Road. Studies in Honour of Lars Larsson, Lund, 2007; also Røstad, I.M., Flying riddles: Disentangling animal style elements on Merovingian-period bird brooches, in Sivs Festskrft, Spesialutgave, Oslo, 2023; Ørsnes, M., Form og stil i Sydskandinaviens yngre germanske jernalder, PhD dissertation, Oslo, 1966.

Brooches of a similar form have been found at a number of Scandinavian sites, including the temple-site at Uppakra (Sweden). Today, many avian brooches are known from Norway alone,- for example, those found at Gålås and Berg østre, both in Hedmark, or the one from Foss nordre in Akershus.
A stylised bird with a similar appearance appears on the helmet found in the boat grave Vendel XIV, at Uppland in eastern central Sweden, forming the nasal guard.