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LOT 1714
Viking Age Bronze Ring with Horse
9TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (4.64 grams, 20.76 mm overall, 14.23 mm internal diameter (approximate size British F 1/2, USA 3, Europe 4.3, Japan 4)).
D-section hoop with a lentoid bezel with an incuse image of a stylised horse walking left. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000.
From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Cf. for the type Johnson, C.E., MA Dissertation: A Typological Assessment of Late Anglo-Saxon and Viking-Age Finger-Rings from Britain Dating from AD 600-1100, London, 2014, no.227, from Whitby Abbey.
FootnotesThis category of rings shows a combination of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian animal ornaments. They derived from the Selkirk ring, with a speckled, backwards-biting animal inside an ovoid bezel. This style seems to be typically Nordic, and the size of the ring suggests a child's ring.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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Viking Age Bronze Twisted Bar Bracelet
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Two rods tightly twisted and curved into a penannular shape, hammered flat towards the ends, one terminal with a hatched design to the outer edge. 36 grams, 62 mm
Ex East Sussex private collection, 1970s-1980s. -
Viking Period Bronze Lunar Pendant
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Flat-section crescentic body with low-relief chevron decoration and integral suspension loop. 2.33 grams, 28 mm
UK gallery, early 2000s. -
Viking Silver-Gilt Seated Freyja Mount
Circa 9th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,470
A parcel-gilt plaque pendant with facing seated figure, probably the goddess Freyja, modelled in the half-round; the hands raised to grip lateral ribbed strands of hair, the garment formed as two crossed bands on the chest, the knees prominent and feet placed together; emerging from each strand of hair, a feline with curled tail, ribbed body, foreleg curled over the neck, notched fingers and triangular face with lappet and snubbed snout; loop above the head, three holes to the edges. 30.6 grams, 46 mm
Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13159-248791.
The figure represents a seated female accompanied by two cats. In the Icelandic poem Gylfaginning (The Deceiving of Gylfi), Freyja is said to be seated in her chariot drawn by two cats. Her hall in heaven is called Sessrumnir, meaning 'with room for many seats'. She is also associated with a high seat from which prophecy is made, similar to that of Odin.
