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LOT 1336
Scandinavian Viking Bronze Drum Brooch with Interlaced Panels
8TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/4 in. (71.6 grams total, 45 mm).
With four raised arms and central knop to the upper face, all with punched ring-and-dot detailing; the outer sidewall with four panels of knotwork, dividing vertical stems with ring-and-dot motif, each with a D-shaped protrusion; the upper face with dense zoomorphic ornament; pin and separate catchplate to the underside with central hole, five studs retaining it to the upper.
ProvenanceUK gallery, acquired in the 2000s.
Property of an English gentleman.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11406-192532.
Cf. MacGregor, A. et al., A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, item 1.9; and cf. Hammond, A.B., Benet's Artefacts of England & the United Kingdom, Fourth Edition, 2021, p.497, VO7-42257, for a similar item valued at £8,000-£10,000.
FootnotesThe type is known as a 'drum' brooch or 'box' brooch. They were apparently manufactured on the island of Gotland and all known examples probably have their origin there. Over time, the refinement of the earlier types (such as the present example) is superseded by cruder decoration consisting of dimples or simple dots.
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LOT 1336
Scandinavian Viking Bronze Drum Brooch with Interlaced Panels
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
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Viking Age Bronze Animal Head Mount
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
With bulbous eyes and muzzle, hollow to the reverse. 8.14 grams, 37 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Pendant with Interlace
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
With pierced lug above, pelletted border with geometric design of four pelletted loops and central boss. 2.32 grams, 25 mm
Acquired in the 1990s. Ex property of a German collector.
In terms of material culture, it is impossible not to note the influence that the Scandinavians had on Rus at that time. Evidence of this, in particular, is a number of pendants from the main centres of Rus. It is curious that the composition of volute-shaped scrolls was widely popular among the Slavic environment of the 11th-mid-12th century. A similar pendant made of tin-lead alloy was found in Gochevo, Kursk region. -
Pre-Viking Gold Aroma Bucket Pendant
4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Adorned with filigree to the sidewall and handle, a polished red glass gem to the base held in a toothed setting. 2.24 grams, 21 mm
Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK.
Pendants 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.