LOT 0365

Scandinavian Viking Silver-Gilt Oseberg Style Gripping Beast Pendant

LATE 10TH-EARLY 11TH CENTURY A.D.

1 1/2 in. (21.1 grams, 40 mm).

Borre-style beast and integral suspension loop with linear detailing; the openwork plaque with pelletted border and scrolled florid niello-filled panels, beast with pelletted band to the body and gripping hands on the border, facing mask below the loop. [No Reserve]

Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s.
Westminster collection, central London, UK.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Cf. Korshyn, V.E., Yazicheskiye Priveski Drevniye Rusi X-XIV Vekov, Moscow, 2013, items K.2.01-03

There is a class of discoid pendants with banded borders and contorted figures found in the hinterland of the Baltic region, associated with the influence of Scandinavian settlers. The design of these items recalls specific elements of Scandinavian art - for example, the 'gripping hands' motif is a feature of the Oseberg Style named after the famous Norwegian ship-burial. Oseberg Style is associated with the beginnings of the Viking age, and was current in the 9th century when Scandinavian settlers began to establish centres of trade and political control in the area of the rivers Dnieper and Volga. The motif has been interpreted as a horse and linked with various legends and mythic figures.