Viking Age Bronze Plaited Ring

Matched pair of bridle fittings formed as two opposing fantastical creatures with their heads turned back and front legs resting on a globe forming a passage for a strap, the bodies decorated with bands of herringbone decoration. 79.2 grams total, 79 mm each



From a European collection, 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13379-257911.

On these types of horse-bits, two heads or a head/tail normally face each other. But an unusual piece from Edsvära in Västergötland, Sweden, depicts two heads turned outwards, like in the current example. The mount from Edsvära, with its attached iron bit, was found in 1906 next to a horse's skeleton.

Miniature drum-shaped vessel covered in a filigree meander pattern with granules and a strap handle. 1.60 grams, 12 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.

Penannular bracelet with looped terminals formed of round-section bars. 22.5 grams, 63 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.