Viking Age Bronze Buckle Collection

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.

With raised ledge to the inner face, panels with interlocking teeth and vertical bars to the outer face. 56.4 grams, 70 mm



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

A similar bracelet in bronze, with deep wavy furrows and stamped rows of circles, was found in grave 1081 of the Birka Necropolis. It was a female grave, and the diameter/length of the bracelet (73mm) corresponds to the 70mm of our specimen. These bracelets, as visible in the grave, were usually worn as a pair on both arms.

With square-headed terminals decorated with punched ring-and-dot motifs, free-running pin, brooch body with carinated upper face. 13.1 grams, 38 mm



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