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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.
ProvenanceEuropean 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.
FootnotesThe 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.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0332
Viking Age Gilt Bronze Oseberg Box Brooch with Entwined Animals
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,510
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Viking Age Silver Pendant with Crystal Magnifier
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Displaying a ropework border enclosing a polished rock crystal magnifier; applied suspension loop with a separate coiled hoop. 3.8 grams, 47mm
Ex property of a professional collector; acquired before 1990. -
Viking Age Bronze Ring with Tremello Design
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
The tapering arms coiled at the hoop base. 2.01 grams, 23.33 mm overall, 17.63 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14)
London art market before 2000. Property of an Essex gentleman. -
Viking Period Rus Silver Temple Earring Pair
10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Each composed of a decoratively twisted upper hoop, bulbous collars and a large central bulb with projecting cones and granules. 30 grams total, 55-57 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
This style of earring was typical among Slavic women in the 8th-12th centuries, an imitation of Eastern Roman models. Examples have been found in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and with similar decoration in Belarus. Such rings were also worn as part of head-dresses, in which context they are known as ‘temple rings’ because they were worn by women near the temples. They were usually made of base metals, but some silver and gold examples also survive. Different tribes had their own designs, which were often threaded onto a cord, forming part of a head-dress, or woven directly into braids of hair.
