Viking Age Bronze Tortoise Brooch

With complex beast left, facing back to the right, gripping a tendril, within a double rope border with filigree annulets in the field; suspension loop to the apex, decorated with filigree pellets within annulets. 7.57 grams, 49 mm high



Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK.

Decorated with filigree bands of overlapping semi-circular motifs to the sidewall; slender handle with plaited decoration. 1.71 grams, 19 mm high



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.

Composed of a tubular bronze handle with engraved interlaced geometric design. 59.4 grams, 10 cm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

A similar knife can be seen in a female grave from Tuukkala, Mikkeli, Finland, still with its blade and housed in a magnificent bronze openwork scabbard. Knives were used by men and women in many different ways, including for war.