Viking Bronze Bridle Strap Junction with Beast Heads

10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.

2 1/2 in. (30 grams, 63 mm).

Comprising a rectangular suspension loop with D-section shank and mask below, two flanking arms each with a zoomorphic (bear?) face, one terminating in a wolf's head and the other in a bird's head; small loops below the terminals.

Provenance

Found Bardney, Lincolnshire, UK, in the early 1990s.

Literature

Cf. Leahy, K. and Lewis, M., Finds Identified, London, 2018, p.294, PAS NMS-482554, for similar example.

Footnotes

This bridle junction is decorated in the Anglo-Scandinavian Ringerike style. On each side of the central hole is an outward facing animal, their beaked heads positioned on the outer edges. The details on the face are carried out in moulded relief as well as engraving.

CONDITION

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LOT 0384