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LOT 1665
Viking Age Silver 'Currency' Ingot
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER
1 1/4 in. (32 grams, 30 mm).
A hacked irregular hammered silver ingot, probably melted down loot creating a monetised piece of 'Hack' for Viking trade; X-ray Fluorescence analysis provides the following results: Ag (91.7%), Cu (4.09%), Fe (3.69%), Zn (0.19%), Au (0.19%), Pb (0.13%). [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx property of a UK gallery, early 2000s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
See Hårdh, B., Silver in the Viking Age. A Regional-Economic Study, Acta Archaeologica Lundensia no.25, Stockholm, 1996; Blackburn, M., Viking Coinage and Currency in the British Isles, London, 2011.
FootnotesIngots of gold and silver were regularly produced in the Early Medieval period when trade took place between monetised economies (Anglo-Saxon England, Francia, Frisia) and their non-monetised neighbours in southern Scandinavia (Blackburn, 2011). Ingots were a convenient means of storing wealth which could be converted into display items (weapon fittings, clothing fasteners, tableware) or used to gild silver and bronze items (Hårdh, 1996).
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AUCTIONS:
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Pre-Viking Silver Filigree Bucket Pendant
4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Miniature drum-shaped vessel with strap handle, beaded wire bands to top and bottom of sidewall, filigree loop ornament. 2.35 grams, 21 mm
Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
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. -
Viking Age Bronze Dragon Pendant with Foot Dangles
8th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Horizontal braided band with horse-head finial, loop to reverse, band of loops to lower edge, each with a duck-foot dangle; Finno-Ugric type; mounted on a custom-made stand. 79 grams total, pendant: 71 mm wide (13.2 cm including stand)
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Scandinavian Viking Period Silver-Gilt Corpus Christi
Circa 11th century A.D.Estimate: £15,000 - 20,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £7,500
Modelled in the half-round with elongated arms and exaggerated hands, head tilted and eyes downcast in solemn expression, long hair falling on his shoulders in hanks; wearing a knee-length pleated garment, secured to the waist with a thick knotted rope, gilt roundels to hands and feet to indicate wounds; attaches to lot 358. 70 grams, 11.7 cm wide
From the collection of an antiquarian and collector of medieval art. Acquired on the London art market. Private collection, London, UK. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12731-234561. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The magnificent crucifix is paralleled by two wonderful crucifixes in the Danish Churches of Århus and Lisbjerg. In accordance with the old tradition derived from Byzantium, Christ is depicted as alive, standing in front of his cross, with nailed hands. It may have once been part of an altar decoration or rather have been placed above or in the chancel arch of a church.