Viking Age Silver Axe Pendant

Narrow hoop and broad cell with claw setting, inset amethyst cabochon. 2.92 grams, 24.78 mm overall, 16.68 x 17.05 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

With a long, deeply curved blade, short neck, socket with slightly curved wings above and below, and hammer-face to rear; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. 618 grams, 15.2 cm



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

These axes are typical of Baltic workmanship. During this age, the axes were the favourite weapons of many Baltic people, including the Curonian army, which included lightly armed soldiers who fought with spears, shields, fighting knives and axes. A heavily armed soldier could also carry a sword, a helmet, a shield, and a wide-bladed axe.

Miniature drum-shaped vessel covered in filigree bobbles with strap handle. 0.72 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.