Viking Age Bronze Bracelet with Decoration

Cup-shaped in sheet gold with applied filigree detailing and granule clusters. 1.19 grams, 13 mm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

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.

With applied filigree and granule detailing, five domes with granule clusters at the apex, tubular suspender, straps to the reverse. 4.21 grams, 33 mm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Curved shank with collars and dragon-head finials joined to a plaque with hatched texture, loop to the reverse with wire hoop. 10.8 grams, 46 mm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.