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LOT 1651
Viking Age Latten Inlaid Iron Key
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
5 3/8 in. (59.6 grams, 13.6 cm).
Comprising an openwork bow, oval-section stem and pierced terminal.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
PublishedExhibited at the Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 27th August-10th December 2025; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefacts on display.
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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Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Gilt Bronze Urnes Stirrup Apex Mount
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Heater-shaped in profile with openwork Urnes Style interlace, holes for attachment pins to lower corners, beast-head finial to apex; remains of attachment rivets and strap to reverse. 17.8 grams, 55 mm
Found Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK.
A high-quality gilded example, for which we can find no parallel, extremely rare. -
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Pendant
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Lentoid in plan with openwork image of a small bird being seized by a larger predator; loop to apex. 5.42 grams, 39 mm
Found Norfolk, UK. -
Pre-Viking Gold Filigree Aroma Bucket Pendant
Circa 4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Miniature drum-shaped vessel with strap handle, the body decorated with granule clusters. 1.49 grams, 15 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.
