Scandinavian Viking Silver Equal-Arm Brooch

A penannular bronze brooch with a tapering body and upturned terminals each with a polygonal knop with nine faces, with pricked dot and annulet decoration; the apex of the hoop with a tripartite collar, flanked by symmetrical decorative motifs comprising concentric triangles composed of pricked dots and with annulet fill and annulets to the apexes, framed by lozenges composed of four annulets; free-running pin composed of a tapering tongue with headplate coiled around the brooch, the head decorated with raised bands and chevrons. 19.2 grams, 46 mm



Acquired in the 1990s. From a North Yorkshire private collection, UK.

A silver pendant formed as a miniature bucket with applied filigree bands to the strap handle and body, granules to the median panel of the body and at the junction with the handle. 4.28 grams, 25 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.

A miniature sheet-gold domed shield boss, embellished with repoussé concentric dots orbiting a larger central dome. 10.2 grams, 18 mm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.