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Details
LOT 0360
Viking Age Silver-Gilt Cross Pendant with Head of a Beast
11TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
1 1/2 in. (5.4 grams, 40 mm).
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.
Provenance
From the family collection of a Hertfordshire, UK, gentleman since the 1970s.
with Bonhams, London, Sale 17880, 7 December 2010, lot 6.
Accompanied by a copy of the online Bonhams catalogue page, and the original lot ticket.
Literature
Cf. Graham-Campbell, J. & Kidd, D., The Vikings, London, 1980, item 45, for similar silver pendant from Foss, Iceland; cf. Weidenfeld and Nicolson ed., English Romanesque Art 1066-1200, Hayward Gallery, London, 1984, 248-254; cf. TimeLine Auctions 21/2/17, lot 400, for similar.
Footnotes
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 ideas.
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).
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LOT 0360
Viking Age Silver-Gilt Cross Pendant with Head of a Beast
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
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Composed of a pair of brooches with pin to the reverse; attached to each brooch is a double rosette spacer with chain extending to other tortoise brooch; from the other rosette spacer hang two more chains, one with a needle case with openwork scroll pattern above, and one with a decorated lunate pendant; mounted on a large high-quality custom-made display stand by Colin Bowles Limited. 6.75 kg total, 55 x 47.5 cm including display frame
Fine condition. Rare.
Property of a professional collector; acquired before 1990. Ex London collection since 2016. 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 search certificate number no.11736-201216.
The most characteristic items of Viking women's jewellery are oval brooch pairs, sometimes called tortoise brooches due to their shape, found in many Viking Age female graves. As in this example, the tortoise brooches themselves were sometimes chained together. These chains suspended from the pair of brooches also supported utilitarian objects such as tweezers, ear spoon, scissors and a small knife, as well as amulets. Sometimes the brooches suspended strands of beads of glass, silver, amber or jet.
