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LOT 0355
Viking Bronze Borre Style Tortoise Brooch Set with Pendants
10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
21 3/4 x 18 3/4 in. (6.75 kg total, 55 x 47.5 cm including display frame).
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.
ProvenanceProperty 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.
For similar oval brooches see Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pls.58ff. and in particular 62-63, 67; see also Graham-Campbell, J. & Kidd, D., The Vikings, London, 1980, figs.52-53, for similar brooches from Norway; Roesdahl, E., Wilson D.M., From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe 800 to 1200 (22nd Council of Europe Exhibition), Copenhagen, 1992, p.69, pp.75, 89, for similar specimens; Berthelot, S., Musin, A., Russie Viking, vers une autre Normandie? Novgorod et la Russie du Nord, des migrations scandinaves á la fin due Moyen Age (VIIIe-Xve s.), Paris, 2011, pp.90-91.
FootnotesThe 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.
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LOT 0355
Viking Bronze Borre Style Tortoise Brooch Set with Pendants
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
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Viking Age Silver-Gilt Cross Pendant with Head of a Beast
11th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
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. 5.4 grams, 40 mm
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.
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). -
Viking Age Bronze Dragon Strap End Collection
9th-11th century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Each with an openwork entwined beast; two rivets to one, a pierced mounting arm to the other. 25.5 grams total, 43-61 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Sun Whorl Pendant
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Featuring an integral suspension loop, sun whorls within border in relief. 11.9 grams, 37 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
