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LOT 1214
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Bracelet
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
1 7/8 in. (28 grams, 48mm).
With penannular hoop, snaking vertical grooves and large dimples, terminals formed as snake's head swallowing its tail. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.109 (9).
FootnotesA similar bracelet, with deep wavy furrows and stamped rows of circles, was found on the remains of the right forearm bones of a female, in grave 1081 of Hemlanden Birka cemetery. These bracelets, as visible in this grave, were usually worn in pairs on both arms, or - like in the case of the Birka grave - paired with another kind of bracelet.
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AUCTIONS:
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Viking Age or Earlier Hacked Gold Trade Ingot
Circa 10th century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
A slightly bent irregular bar of hacked gold with rectangular cross-section, showing evidence of compression and fracture to each end, some subtle transverse lines on both of the main surfaces. 14.43 grams, 51 mm
Found whilst searching with a metal detector on 1st May 2022 on a Romano-British site in Cambridgeshire, UK, by Trevor Singleton. Accompanied by a handwritten letter from the finder. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.CAM-D819F0 and workflow review page where it states: 'There is evidence that the bar fragment has been cut from both ends, suggesting Early Medieval (Viking Period) parallels.'
This ingot was declared under the Treasure Act and subsequently determined by the British Museum to be of 'undiagnostic' date and therefore returned to the finder. Trevor Singleton maintains that it was recovered from a known Romano-British site, while in neighbouring fields Early Medieval (Late Saxon & Viking) items have been recovered and logged with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Ingots of gold and silver were regularly produced in the Early Medieval period when trade took place between monetised economies (Anglo-Saxon England, Francia, Frisia) and their non-monetised neighbours in southern Scandinavia (West, 1998; Blackburn, 2011). Ingots were a convenient means of storing wealth which could be converted into display items (weapon fittings, clothing fasteners, tableware) or used to gild silver and bronze items (Hårdh, 1996). -
Viking Silver Mammen Style Dragon Pendant
10th-early 11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Of discoid form with central motif of a low-relief regardant beast with piriform shoulder and punced body, looped tendrils enmeshing the body. 9.1 grams, 35 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Silver Trade Bar Ingot
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Shaped as a rectangular bar with rounded ends, hammered flat creating a ribbed pattern. 1.58 grams, 27 mm
Acquired late 1980s-early 1990s. Ex private collection, Nottinghamshire, UK. Acquired on the UK art market in 2012. Property of a Kent lady collector.
