Viking Age Lozenge-Shaped Silver Filigree Pendant

A silver miniature axehead with integral suspension loop. 2.27 grams, 21 mm



Acquired in the late 1990s-2000. Property of an East London gentleman.

A copper-alloy zoomorphic stirrup mount of Williams' Class A, Type 8; formed as a boar's head with stylised detailing; the mount is sub-triangular in plan displaying one head at the apex and two heads below, decoration comprising looping and bifurcating tendrils; shallow ledge to the reverse and three perforations for mounting. 23.3 grams, 55 mm

Fine condition, traces of strap to the reverse.

Found near Snargate, Kent, UK. Property of a Kent gentleman. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no. KENT-D935E8.

A silver pendant formed as a miniature bucket with applied filigree bands to the strap handle and body, granules to the median panel of the body and at the junction with the handle. 4.28 grams, 25 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.