Details

LOT 0354

Viking Bronze Tortoise Brooch Necklace Set with Pendants

9TH CENTURY A.D.

22 x 22 1/4 in. (7.7 kg total, 56 x 54 cm including display frame).

Comprising: two oval brooches, each domed with raised ornament, wide flange, ferrous remains of the pin to the reverse; suspended from the lower edge of each brooch a triangular openwork spacer plate with three tiers of red and green glass tubular beads, the lower tier with a discoid pendant plaque with bands of raised pellets; three double-link chains running between the plates; three more chains from each plate with an amuletic or decorative pendant comprising a bronze model knife in its sheath, a silver(?) Dirhem coin, an iron model dog with punched decoration, a latch-lifter key, a pair of bronze crotal bells, a stone disc or spindle whorl; displayed on a large high-quality custom-made display stand by Colin Bowles Limited.

Provenance

Family collection formed after World War II; thence by descent.
Ex London collection since 2016.

Literature

Cf. MacGregor, A. et al., A Summary Catalogue of the Continental Archaeological Collections, Oxford, 1997, item 4, for oval brooches; see also Ewing, T., Viking Clothing, Stroud, 2007.

Footnotes

Women's display jewellery in the Viking age comprised both utilitarian and symbolic items. The brooches were worn high on the chest, supporting an apron-type overdress (hangerok) with the beads and chains strung between them and various small items attached. The pendants probably symbolised the authority of the female in the domestic sphere (key, coin, spindle whorl), and in husbandry (model animal, crotal bells, model knife).