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LOT 1599
Viking Age Gold 'Elf Shot' Pendant
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D. OR EARLIER
5/8 in. (0.55 grams, 16 mm).
Gold cup with hoop and suspension loop, aqua glass insert.
ProvenanceFrom a late Japanese specialist collector, 1970-2000s.
FootnotesThis amulet was believed to offer protection against 'Elfshot'. The attack of elves was believed responsible for mysterious suffering in men and livestock: sudden shooting pains localised to a particular area of the body, such as in rheumatism, arthritis or muscle stitches or cramps. Elves were thought to shoot darts or arrows where such pains had no obvious external cause. Belief in elfshot persisted into the 20th century in rural areas, and as proof country folk would sometimes find small arrowheads (the remains of Neolithic or Mesolithic flints, or naturally-occurring spear-shaped stones) that were believed to be the magical weapons that caused the afflictions. Belief in elfshot began in the Pagan Germanic period.
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Pre Viking Scandinavian Silver Aroma Bucket Pendant with garnets
Circa 4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
With braided wire handle, applied wire bands to the rim, granulation to the sidewall and base, five cells each set with a cabochon garnet. 3.02 grams, 19 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. -
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Viking Age Gilt Bronze Openwork Roundel with Interlaced Snakes
10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
With rilled edge and pierced hub, the field a network of dense interlaced tendrils. 48.9 grams, 70.7 mm
Fine condition.
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Ex property of a London, UK, collector. -
Viking Inspired Bronze Omega Penannular Brooch
12th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
A flat-section Mordvinian type brooch comprising a penannular band and two trapezoidal plates; the tongue round-section with flat scroll around the band; the plates each with raised pellets and four pierced lugs to the outer edges. 12.4 grams, 55 mm
Ex property of an Essex gentleman. Property of a Scottish collector, acquired in 2013.
