Viking Age Decorated Silver Coiled Ring

In the form of an equine creature modelled in the round with long beak and arched neck; panels of gilded Style I ornament to each lateral face, stepped band with punched detailing extending from the ears to the chest; rounded rump with pointillé detailing; hollow mounting socket to the underside. 13.6 grams, 42 mm



Acquired early 1990s. From an East Anglian private collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11895-204402.

The socket on the underside suggests that the mount was placed prominently, perhaps on the crest of a helmet. Zoomorphic helmet mounts are known e.g. the boars on the Benty Grange and Wollaston examples, though these are not so detailed as the present example. The item is too small to be seen from afar but is ornate enough to attract attention at close quarters. Stylistically, the piece might have been made in southern Scandinavia or in an Anglian area of England in the later 5th or 6th century A.D.

With tubular bar, semi-circular plate with decorative circular piercings and remains of suspension loop. 20.9 grams, 62 mm



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

With pierced lug above, pelletted border with geometric design of four pelletted loops and central boss. 2.32 grams, 25 mm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex property of a German collector.

In terms of material culture, it is impossible not to note the influence that the Scandinavians had on Rus at that time. Evidence of this, in particular, is a number of pendants from the main centres of Rus. It is curious that the composition of volute-shaped scrolls was widely popular among the Slavic environment of the 11th-mid-12th century. A similar pendant made of tin-lead alloy was found in Gochevo, Kursk region.