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LOT 0291
Viking Age Crystal Sphere in Gold Pendant
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
2 5/8 in. (23.3 grams, 66 mm).
Comprising a rock crystal sphere with shallow notches to accept gold filigree straps, looped at the bottom with separate dangle and green calcite or similar insert; gathered at the top into a sheet gold tube and suspended from a gold wire hoop with ends twisted round the shank. [No Reserve]
ProvenancePrivate collection formed in Europe in the 1980s.
Westminster collection, central London, UK.
Cf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.100(4).
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 Lead Gaming Piece Collection
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Comprising specimens of various type, including 'crown' types, conical and plano-convex examples, together with pieces incised with X motifs, amongst others. 224 grams total, 15-24 mm
Ex Simmons Gallery, London E11, UK, in the 1990s. From a North London collection. -
Viking Age Bronze Borre-Style Tortoise Brooch
9th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Composed of a domed elliptical body with flange, four Borre-style faces with pellet eyes to the centre of a panel of body parts and hatching with two more faces to the narrow ends. 63 grams, 77 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.
