Viking Age Bronze Zoomorphic Buckle Collection

Composed of six slender tiers with slightly convex outer faces. 4.26 grams, 22.42 mm overall, 19.16 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)



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

Adorned with granule clusters to the sidewall and a granulated cross to convex base. 1.40 grams, 14 mm



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

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.

Of Type D, with fragmentary applied beaded wire border and ribbed suspension loop; the repoussé design a zoomorph with the body formed from looped tendrils; the head beneath the loop with C-shaped left-facing head outlined with pellets, crossbar and eye. 2.24 grams, 28 mm



Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Orsett, Essex, UK, in 2015. Recorded with the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) with reference no.ESS-4FF212. Disclaimed as treasure with reference number 2015 T471. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.200403.