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LOT 2052
Viking Age Bronze Lunar Pendant with Snake
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
1 7/8 in. (8.35 grams, 48 mm).
Crescentic pendant with faux rope decoration, at the centre a sinuous snake.
ProvenanceEx Wiltshire, UK, collection, 1990s.
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AUCTIONS:
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Viking Age Bronze Twisted Bar Bracelet
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Two rods tightly twisted and curved into a penannular shape, hammered into a rectangular-section crescent and tapered towards the ends. 30.9 grams, 60 mm
Ex Arundel, East Sussex, UK, private collection, 1970s-2000. -
Viking Stamped Silver Bracelet
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
Featuring a wide penannular body with rounded finials, the upper face divided into two fields with rich stamped decoration comprising ring-and-dot and triangular motifs. 43.11 grams, 74.13 mm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. -
Pre-Viking Gold Aroma Bucket Pendant
Circa 4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,430
Miniature drum-shaped vessel covered in filigree bobbles with strap handle. 0.78 grams, 13.52 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.
