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Details
LOT 1214
Viking Age Ring with Lozenge-Shaped Bezel
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (3.66 grams, 21.67 mm overall, 18.52 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)).
A ring composed of a convex hoop and lozenge-shaped bezel with raised knops to each corner, hatching to the interior surrounding an enigmatic central motif. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1990s.
English private collection.
Property of an Essex gentleman.
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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.
