Viking Age Twisted Gold Wire Bracelet

Adorned with granule clusters to the sidewall and a granulated cross to convex base. 1.40 grams, 14 mm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Pendants in the form of miniature buckets have been found in a number of pagan Anglo-Saxon and Viking contexts and are generally made of bronze or iron, with gold examples being rare; three gold examples were found with the hoard from Hoen, Norway. Bronze bucket amulets have been found at Driffield in Yorkshire, and Vimose bog in Denmark, among other places. In form they represent wooden buckets bound with bronze or iron bands which have been found in Anglo-Saxon and Viking graves and are believed to have held mead or ale and were used to replenish the cups from which warriors drank. As amulets they probably represent the ecstatic power of alcoholic drink and the role of women as the dispensers of these precious beverages.

The central oval-shaped socket flanked by two fan-shaped heads, one face displaying a shallow incised X to centre between parallel vertical lines. 6.8 grams, 30 mm



Acquired on the EU art market around 2000. From the collection of a North American gentleman.

Formed as a gold cap set with polished garnet; free-running suspension loop above. 0.54 grams, 17 mm



Acquired 1970-2010. Collection of a late Japanese gentleman.