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Details
LOT 0364
Viking Gilt Bronze Horse Harness Pendant with Birds
CIRCA 10TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/4in. (19.42 grams, 44.78 mm).
Square in plan with hollow body, repoussé motif of a tree with flanking birds at the sides and serpents below; integral suspension loop. [No Reserve]
Provenance
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
Literature
Cf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, plate 96 (4), for similar pendants and mounts.
CONDITIONVETTING:
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Square in plan with hollow body, repoussé motif of a tree with flanking birds at the sides and serpents below; integral suspension loop. 19.42 grams, 44.78 mm
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From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
These eggs are usually assigned to Kievan Rus workmanship, but in fact, they were found in a wider geographical area. They are thought to represent an early form of a popular Orthodox tradition of painted eggs, or 'pysanka', popular during the Easter holiday as a symbol of resurrection. However, the symbolism may be pre-Christian, with a connection to an idea of a Cosmic Egg, from which the world was created.
