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LOT 1434
Viking Age Iron Pin with Bronze Horse Head Finial
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
5 1/8 in. (70 grams total, 13 cm high including stand).
Composed of a tapering pin, beast head neck and polygonal head engraved with a boat occupied by a central figure and two horse's heads facing outwards; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx private UK collection formed in the 1980s.
Property of an East Sussex, UK, teacher.
A similar design can be seen on the Tjonehoj brooch, Denmark.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1434
Viking Age Iron Pin with Bronze Horse Head Finial
Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
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Viking Bronze Apex Stirrup Mount with Cross
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Of Williams's Class A Type 14 formed as a trapezoidal plaque with three D-section radiating arms, pierced at the centre and above the lower edge; old collector's numbers to the reverse '90.110.2' and '15888'. 20.4 grams, 47 mm
Found UK. Ex UK collection; formed between 1970s-1990s. -
Viking Age 'Great Beast' Weather Vane Terminal
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Formed as a crouching beast modelled in the round with hollow slot to the underside; elongated head with raised lentoid eyes and ellipsoid ears, ribbed wings to the shoulders, knop tail and splayed claws to the feet; mouth open with detailed fangs. 84.9 grams, 66 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no. 200289.
The navigation techniques in use in Iron Age Northern Europe were very sophisticated, as would be expected from people bordering the Baltic, North Sea and North Atlantic where boat- and ship-building traditions have been perfected over more than a thousand years. A carved wooden panel from Bergen, Norway, shows a number of Viking longships at sea, some with weathervanes mounted on the stempost. They are mounted vertically with the beast on the outer end. Gilded bronze weathervanes appear on the roofs of medieval churches in Sweden, Norway and Finland where they are often regarded as ornamental: symbols of access to resources and craftsmanship for the important families who endowed such buildings. These weathervanes in many cases originally adorned ships and were used as part of the navigational equipment. They may have inspired the medieval Norman custom of attaching a gilded weathervane or cock to church roofs, which eventually spread to secular buildings such as castles in France and Italy where their use was restricted to certain ranks of nobility (Lindgrén, 1983). -
Viking Bronze Buckle with Beast Head
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Displaying high-relief detailing to the bow, zoomorphs with central triangular mask and openwork limbs; bar to the rear. 9.4 grams, 36 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
