Viking Period Silver Filigree Teardrop Pendant

Formed as a bell-shaped container with granule detailing. 1.35 grams, 17 mm



From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.

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 amulet,s they probably represent the ecstatic power of alcoholic drink and the role of women as the dispensers of these precious beverages.

Executed in repoussé technique, a dome to each arm likely representing the Five Wounds of Christ, together with punched annulets and other details. 6.56 grams, 51 mm



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Featuring a central openwork bulb, rod with D-shaped loop above, separate similar loop below; ring-and-dot motifs to the body, bear-head masks to the sides of the loops. 45.1 grams, 77 mm



Found near Fakenham, Norfolk, UK, in 2006.