Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 1215
Viking Age Bronze Comb
10TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/4 in. (16.5 grams, 44 mm).
Featuring a scalloped handle with openwork scrolling tendrils, complete set of teeth below. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1980-2000.
Ex property of an American collector.
Literature
See similar in Arbman, H., Birka I, Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.100, no.2, from grave 1162.
Footnotes
Norsemen were particularly fastidious about their appearance. The hair and beard were important to the men, for making a statement and to intimidate their opponents. Early combs were made from antler or bone and carried in a small pouch; high status combs were later made from metal (mainly bronze) and have been found as grave goods.
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Bracelet
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Of penannular form, vertical grooves and snaking lines to the bezel, tapering arms with ornamental notching and punched ring-and-dot clusters to the terminals. 36.1 grams, 69 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Skeletal Stirrup Apex Mount
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £481
A well defined Williams's Class A Type 6 mount comprising a D-shaped plaque with high-relief central tree or skeleton, a serpent to each lateral edge with divided tail coiled over the 'tree's' trefoil finial, head at the tree's base; beast-head finial with loop above; shallow ledge to the reverse, two circular piercings above. 25 grams, 50 mm
Found Lincolnshire, UK. -
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Bracelet
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
With a reversed C-shaped body tapering towards the terminals, geometric ornament in relief including lozenges and pecking; terminals absent. 66 grams, 38 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
Similar bracelets were found usually in female graves in the Hemlanden cemetery in Birka. Sometimes they were found in pairs, sometimes worn only on the right arm. Their main characteristic was the geometric decoration engraved on the surface.