LOT 0332

Viking Age Gilt Bronze Oseberg Box Brooch with Entwined Animals

8TH CENTURY A.D.

2 in. (44 grams, 50 mm).

Formed as a hollow drum-shaped casting with ornament to the obverse and sidewall; the high-relief designs comprising three radiating panels of Oseberg Style 'gripping-beast' motifs with a dome at the centre and three to the beaded border; the slightly sloping sidewall with four panels of S-shaped animals with interlaced tendrils, separated by beaded borders; to the reverse, the perimeter flange supported by two integral blocks supporting the catchplate and pin-hole respectively, the latter damaged and replaced by a second offset hole.

European collection, acquired 1980s.
Ex property of a UK collector.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no. 200319.

Cf. MacGregor, A. et al., A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, item 1.1.

The Oseberg style shows a strong interplay between zoomorphic and geometric patterns that continues artistic traditions predating the Viking Age, but continued in the Viking Age at least until 875 A.D. While 8th century art and ornaments show considerable variation across Scandinavia, the gripping-beast motif was adopted in every region within a few decades after 790 A.D.