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LOT 0317
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.
ProvenanceAcquired on the European art market in the 1990s.
Ex property of a German gentleman.
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.
FootnotesDespite 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.
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LOT 0317
Viking Age Silver Gripping Beasts Pendant
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
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Viking Silver Elfshot Pendant with Stone Arrowhead
9th-11th century A.D. and earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £572
An amulet with a silver cap securing an arrow-shaped flint insert. 2.43 grams, 34 mm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
This amulet was believed to offer protection against 'Elfshot'. The attack of elves was believed responsible for mysterious suffering in men and livestock: sudden shooting pains localised to a particular area of the body, such as in rheumatism, arthritis, or muscle stitches or cramps. Elves were thought to shoot darts or arrows where such pains had no obvious external cause. Belief in elfshot persisted into the 20th century in rural areas, and as proof, country folk would sometimes find small arrowheads (the remains of Neolithic or Mesolithic flints, or naturally-occurring spear-shaped stones) that were believed to be the magical weapons that caused the afflictions. Belief in elfshot began in the Pagan Germanic period. -
Viking Bronze Boar's Head Brooch with Openwork Beast Motif
9th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
Hollow-formed with openwork decorative outer surface attached to a plain back-plate with one spring-lug and catchplate intact; the upper face divided by a heavy segmented median rib and zoomorphic ornament in the outer panels, arranged symmetrically along the rib with a similar transverse band; the corners of the wider end reinforced with vertical posts ending in heavy lobed ‘ears’; the side panels decorated with zones of interlace zoomorphic ornament and the upper-end panel with a continuation of the median rib, traces of ornamental interlace; the lower-end panel plain. 109 grams, 56 mm (162 grams total, 10.5 cm including stand)
Acquired on the UK art market, 1995-2000s. Private collection, London. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12987-246190. -
Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Stirrup Apex Mount with Beasts
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,040
Broad and shallow with narrow pierced ledge to reverse, Williams's Class B; openwork scene of two quadrupeds addorsed with legs resting on the outer edge of the frame and heads turned towards the median column; three loops to the curved upper edge. 35.2 grams, 52 mm
Found Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK.
This exact from does not appear in Williams's study, although examples with addorsed animals do appear in the 'Unclassified' section (p.102-4). The general shape and proportions are consistent with his Class B examples.
