Viking Age Silver Axehead Pendant

A glazed hollow ceramic egg with a hole to the underside and a smaller pellet inside; regular, dragged yellow lines to the outer face. 30.4 grams, 41 mm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.

These eggs are usually assigned to Kievan Rus workmanship, but in fact, they were found in a wider geographical area. They are thought to represent an early form of a popular Orthodox tradition of painted eggs, or 'pysanka', popular during the Easter holiday as a symbol of resurrection. However, the symbolism may be pre-Christian, with a connection to an idea of a Cosmic Egg, from which the world was created.

Miniature drum-shaped vessel covered in filigree bobbles with strap handle. 0.78 grams, 13.52 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.

Formed of twisted round-section bars with looped terminals. 21.2 grams, 58 mm



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