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LOT 1617
Viking Bronze Openwork Box Brooch with Silver Detailing
11TH CENTURY A.D.
2 1/8 in. (95 grams, 55 mm).
Formed as an openwork outer shell, inner container and bottom plate; the upper face with central conical boss and four small satellite bosses each with a silver surface disc; to the outer face four pierced tongue-shaped panels with D-shaped finials proud of the upper face, each with a silvered element to the upper end; the bottom plate with integral catchplate and central void, four attachment pins to the underside; the upper face and sidewall executed in Urnes style zoomorphic openwork; the inner element a plain sheet-bronze container.
ProvenanceAcquired in the 1950s.
Ex private collection, South West England.
Cf. MacGregor, A. et al., A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, items 1.8,9, for type.
FootnotesOn the Baltic island of Gotland, high-ranking females wore 'box' (or 'drum') brooches to secure their outer garments at the shoulders. The inner container may have been used to hold small valuables.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1617
Viking Bronze Openwork Box Brooch with Silver Detailing
Estimate £500 - 700€580 - 810 (for guidance only)$680 - 950 (for guidance only)
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Viking Age Bronze 'Great Beast' Horse Figure
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Hollow-formed finial in the shape of a stylised horse with scrolled tail, arcading to the mane, applied strap and pellet harness detailing. 30 grams, 59 mm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12078-213598. -
Pre Viking Scandinavian Silver Aroma Bucket Pendant with garnets
Circa 4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
With braided wire handle, applied wire bands to the rim, granulation to the sidewall and base, five cells each set with a cabochon garnet. 3.02 grams, 19 mm
Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK.
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. -
Viking Age Silver Shield-Shaped Pendant with Sun
Circa 9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Disc-shaped with incised Sol Invictus motif; integral loop with end wound about the shank. 0.97 grams, 29 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman.
