Viking Age Lead Gaming Piece

With graduated silver wire coils to the shank, collection of free-running cosmetic grooming pendants comprising: pelta-shaped plaque, quadrant-shaped plaque, ear scoop, miniature hammer, tweezers. 28.75 grams total, bracelet 88.90 mm wide



Formerly acquired in the late 1950s. From the family collection of a South East London collector.

Miniature hammers occur in pre-Viking times both in Scandinavia and in England, but their number increased markedly in Viking Scandinavia. They are known in iron, bronze, occasionally amber, and, from the 10th century onward, silver. They are predominantly found in women's graves, while most of the silver examples come from hoards of the late 10th and 11th centuries.

Comprising a twisted penannular body with scrolled finials and a free-running tapering pin. 3.03 grams, 35 mm



UK private collection before 2000. On the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.

A discoid lead insular Scandinavian domed trade weight with inset boss; the copper-alloy bridle mount very similar in design to one found at the late 9th/early 10th century Balladoole Viking boat burial on the Isle of Man in the 1940s; enamel-inlaid copper-alloy mount from a horse-harness set with a ribbed rim; the obverse decorated with a series of rectangular cells filled with opaque yellowish-green and reddish enamel, forming a circular border around a zoomorphic interlaced and spiral design formed by a series of sub-triangular and curving cloisons surrounding a circular central cell; the lead weight undecorated on the reverse. 194 grams, 43.5 mm



Possibly found in Hampshire, UK. Acquired at a boot sale in Alton, Hampshire, UK in August 2023. Property of an Australian collector. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.HAMP-7AD372. Recorded with Winchester City Museum and later the Finds Liaison Officer, Hampshire Cultural Trust, who in turn consulted with Medieval experts at the British Museum.

This is an Insular Scandinavian weight which would have had an original weight of 8 ounces which is towards the heavier extreme for weights of this type, which re-use a variety of insular metalwork items as ready-made decoration. They appear to have originated in Viking contexts in England and/or Ireland in the late 9th century-early 10th century. Manufacture in the Isle of Man has been suggested for the entire group with similar designs and manufacturing techniques. The copper-alloy element is likely to be part of a Hiberno-Norse, Manx or possibly Scottish horse-harness boss; it probably has a pierced lug to the reverse, now embedded in the lead plug. It is very similar to pieces of the harness set from the ship burial at Balladoole, Arbory Isle of Man. No find spot is available, but the majority of weights with decorative insets do come from archaeological contexts such sites such as Torksey, Aldwark and Woodstown, or graves such as Kiloran Bay.