Viking Period Bronze Pendant with Duck-Foot Dangles

Each a waisted tongue-shaped plaque with openwork detailing to the obverse, incised vegetation. 14 grams total, 44-48 mm



Acquired on the UK art market before 2000. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.

Miniature drum-shaped vessel covered in filigree bobbles with strap handle. 0.72 grams, 15 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.

Circular plaque with seven loops and another at the apex, the lower five loops each with 'duck-foot' type dangle; Finno-Ugric type. 24.8 grams, 70 mm



UK gallery, early 2000s.