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LOT 1508
Viking Age Cowrie Shell Pendant Collection
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
5/8 - 7/8 in. (48 grams total, 13-21 mm).
Comprising a group of natural shells with domes cut away to form pendants or beads. [38, No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK gallery, early 2000s.
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 Bronze Stirrup Mount Collection
Circa 10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Comprising: one mount accompanied by a Portable Antiquities Scheme record, the mount of Anglo-Scandinavian type of Williams' Class A Type 11, triangular in plan with rivet hole to apex displaying a rampant beast two occluded rivet holes below, lip to reverse; a lozengiform type with pellet ornament; a second howling beast type with occluded lower rivet holes and absent apex. 49.3 grams, 32-43 mm
Found Berkshire, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BERK-6F9608. -
Viking Age Bronze Trefoil Mount
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Composed of pelta-shaped cells and central circular dimple; lug to reverse. 18.2 grams, 42 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Pre-Viking Gold Aroma Bucket Pendant
4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Adorned with filigree to the sidewall and handle, a polished red glass gem to the base held in a toothed setting. 2.24 grams, 21 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.
