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LOT 0346
Viking Age Twisted and Coiled Gold Wire Ring
CIRCA 8TH CENTURY A.D.
7/8 in. (4.31 grams, 22.21 mm overall, 18.97 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)).
Substantial hoop with coiled ends forming the bezel.
ProvenanceAcquired 1970-2010.
Collection of a late Japanese gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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Viking Age Silver Stamp-Decorated Bracelet
9th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Comprising a C-section penannular hoop with convex outer face and stamp-decorated decoration in zones including pellets, opposed triangles, segmented bars. 24.4 grams, 67 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age 'Great Beast' Weather Vane Terminal
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Formed as a crouching beast modelled in the round with hollow slot to the underside; elongated head with raised lentoid eyes and ellipsoid ears, ribbed wings to the shoulders, knop tail and splayed claws to the feet; mouth open with detailed fangs. 84.9 grams, 66 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no. 200289.
The navigation techniques in use in Iron Age Northern Europe were very sophisticated, as would be expected from people bordering the Baltic, North Sea and North Atlantic where boat- and ship-building traditions have been perfected over more than a thousand years. A carved wooden panel from Bergen, Norway, shows a number of Viking longships at sea, some with weathervanes mounted on the stempost. They are mounted vertically with the beast on the outer end. Gilded bronze weathervanes appear on the roofs of medieval churches in Sweden, Norway and Finland where they are often regarded as ornamental: symbols of access to resources and craftsmanship for the important families who endowed such buildings. These weathervanes in many cases originally adorned ships and were used as part of the navigational equipment. They may have inspired the medieval Norman custom of attaching a gilded weathervane or cock to church roofs, which eventually spread to secular buildings such as castles in France and Italy where their use was restricted to certain ranks of nobility (Lindgrén, 1983). -
Viking Age Bronze Faux Twisted Ring
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Composed of a slender hoop base and expanded bezel. 4.16 grams, 25.39 mm overall, 18.04 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
