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LOT 1246
Viking Age Bronze Facing Mask Strap Fitting
11TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/8 in. (9.19 grams, 36 mm).
Comprising a plaque with two lateral arms, pierced for attachment, and two loops below secured with rivets; the arms with notched and lobed edges, the plaque with central motif of a bearded face with lobes to the temples, pellet eyes, modelled in the half-round. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market before 2000.
From an old Munich collection.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1246
Viking Age Bronze Facing Mask Strap Fitting
Estimate £100 - 140€120 - 160 (for guidance only)$140 - 190 (for guidance only)
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Viking Age Latten Inlaid Iron Key
9th-11th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Comprising an openwork bow, oval-section stem and pierced terminal. 59.6 grams, 13.6 cm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Silver Gripping Beasts Pendant
10th century A.D.Estimate: £1,800 - 2,400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Composed of an openwork discoid body with integral T-shaped tubular loop; raised gusseted rim enclosing a pair of S-shaped beasts with billetted bodies and comma-shaped tails, enmeshed gripping paws clutching the rim and their own bodies. 12.4 grams, 43 mm
Acquired on the European art market in the 1990s. Ex property of a German gentleman.
Despite the long period of overlap of Borre and Jellinge art styles, there are only few examples of their fusion. The principal and most popular motif of the Borre style displays an animal with gripping paws, usually enmeshed in a circular frame, while a typical Jellinge style beast is more slender with long, S-shaped body and ribbon decoration. The most famous example of a pendant featuring a fusion of these styles was found in a hoard from Vårby (Sweden), formed as a circle with a pair of Jellinge-style beasts with ribbon-shaped bodies in profile and heads with open jaws and extended tongues; however, each is provided with gripping paws and an enmeshed body, which are typical features of the Borre style. A few examples of these pendants were also found near the important trading settlement of Gnezdovo, near Smolensk, Russia. -
Finno-Ugrian Iron Bearded Axehead
11th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Triangular in plan with D-shaped socket, square butt, scooped lower profile and curved edge. 616 grams, 16.3 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
The more commonly used weapons of the Finno-Ugrian people were axes, commonly found in all Finnic areas, as well as spears. Iron axeheads of this typology show a sub-trapezoidal asymmetrical blade, often perforated through the centre.
