LOT 0294

Viking Age Inlaid Iron Horse Bit Cheek Piece Pair with Opposing Beasts

NORTHERN EUROPE, 11TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/8 in. (79.2 grams total, 79 mm each).

Matched pair of bridle fittings formed as two opposing fantastical creatures with their heads turned back and front legs resting on a globe forming a passage for a strap, the bodies decorated with bands of herringbone decoration. [2, No Reserve]

From a European collection, 1990s.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13379-257911.

Cf. Wideen, H., Västsvenska Vikingatidsstudier. Arkeologiska kallor til Vänerområdets kulturhistoria under yngre järnålder och äldsta medeltid, Skrifter utgivna av Goteborgs Arkeologiska Museum 2, Goteborg, 1955, fig.123; Pedersen, A., ‘Riding gear from Late Viking-age Denmark’ in Journal of Danish Archaeology vol.13, 1996-1997, pp.133-160, fig.4, for horse bits in similar style.

On these types of horse-bits, two heads or a head/tail normally face each other. But an unusual piece from Edsvära in Västergötland, Sweden, depicts two heads turned outwards, like in the current example. The mount from Edsvära, with its attached iron bit, was found in 1906 next to a horse's skeleton.