Viking Gilt Bronze Horse Harness Pendant with Birds

Two rods tightly twisted and curved into a penannular shape, hammered into a rectangular-section crescent and tapered towards the ends. 30.9 grams, 60 mm



Ex Arundel, East Sussex, UK, private collection, 1970s-2000.

Miniature drum-shaped vessel covered in filigree bobbles with strap handle. 0.78 grams, 13.52 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.

Silver ovoid pendant with incised duck-foot detailing, mounted on a wire suspension ring. 1.63 grams, 31 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.