Viking Age Silver Decorated Bracelet

In Romanesque style, cruciform with openwork cross at centre, three oval terminals and a fourth modelled as a hound's head, the beast's mouth forming the suspension loop. 7.88 grams, 40 mm



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of an East Anglian private collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The original function of this rare and unusual pendant remains elusive. The use of expensive materials and the fine and detailed casting indicate that it would have been a highly prized object. The fusion of Christian and pagan religious motifs is typical of Iceland where the worship of the old gods continued into the 11th century. The Christian cross was used as a symbol of the new faith but the pendant also includes elements of pre-Christian motifs. Comparable objects appeared in an exhibition of English Romanesque Art 1066-1200, held at the Hayward Gallery, London, 5 April - 8 July 1984. The catalogue for this exhibition illustrates numerous small metal and gilded articles with similar grotesque terminals- No. 254 illustrated a late 12th century finial from a shrine, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (M.25 1962).

Sheet-gold plaque with folded edges, repoussé image of a facing figure in ankle-length robe, hands resting on the hips. 1.45 grams, 26 mm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12755-234703. 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.

Guldgubbe was originally a Swedish word that has entered in the Scandinavian language and denote tiny human or divine figures either cut from sheet gold or formed over a patrix. Figures of women are extremely rare in metal art before the 7th century A.D. It is only with Guldgubbe that women make their appearance. They are usually viewed both in profile or (like here) frontally.

A matched pair of spiral-coiled wrist-clasps of Hines's Class A, each pair with one broad rounded loop to the centre and one returned hooked loop. 22.99 grams total, 36-38 mm



Property of a gentleman; acquired in the 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The spiral-coil type of wrist clasp is the earliest form of an artefact type which became a very popular costume element in especially Norway and the English East Midlands in the early Anglo-Saxon Period. Grave-finds indicate that they were used to secure the cuffs of robes worn by high-status women.