Viking Age Silver Gripping Beasts Pendant

10TH CENTURY A.D.

1 3/4 in. (12.4 grams, 43 mm).

Composed of an openwork discoid body with integral T-shaped tubular loop; raised gusseted rim enclosing a pair of S-shaped beasts with billetted bodies and comma-shaped tails, enmeshed gripping paws clutching the rim and their own bodies.

Provenance

Acquired on the European art market in the 1990s.
Ex property of a German gentleman.

Literature

Cf. Graham-Campbell, J., Viking Art, London, 2013, item 98; cf. Korshun, V.E., Yazcheskye Priveski Drevnei Rusi X-XIV Vekov, Volume III, Moscow, 2013, items K.6.00-6.02.

Footnotes

Despite the long period of overlap of Borre and Jellinge art styles, there are only a few examples of their fusion. The principal and most popular motif of the Borre style displays an animal with gripping paws, usually enmeshed in a circular frame, while a typical Jellinge style beast is more slender with a long, S-shaped body and ribbon decoration. The most famous example of a pendant featuring a fusion of these styles was found in a hoard from Vårby (Sweden), formed as a circle with a pair of Jellinge-style beasts with ribbon-shaped bodies in profile and heads with open jaws and extended tongues; however, each is provided with gripping paws and an enmeshed body, which are typical features of the Borre style. A few examples of these pendants were also found near the important trading settlement of Gnezdovo, near Smolensk, Russia.

CONDITION

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LOT 0317