LOT 0396

Viking White Metal Filigree Crucifix Pendant

8TH-12TH CENTURY AD

1 1/4 in. (9.32 grams, 31 mm).

Depicting Christ bound by his wrists to the cross, wearing trousers; granulation to the body indicates a patterned shirt; beaded border around the perimeter of the cross; this lot bears close parallels with the ‘Birka Crucifix’ held by the Swedish History Museum but is not made from silver.

Acquired on the London art market in the 2000s.

See The Swedish History Museum, Inventarienummer: 34000; Undernummer: Bj 660; SHM Föremålsidentitet: 108914, for the Birka Crucifix; see Graham-Campbell, J., Viking Art, Thames and Hudson, London, 2013, for another image of the Birka Crucifix and discussion.

The Birka Crucifix pendant, unearthed from Birka grave 660 in Uppland, Sweden, is thought to be the oldest representation of Christ in the Nordic world and bears many similarities to this lot. The Swedish History Museum’s example was excavated from the grave of a wealthy female Christian convert; it is a filigree figure of Christ bound to the cross by his wrists, wearing trousers; this lot is a lower-relief white metal filigree crucifix with integral suspension loop, featuring a representation of head and face executed in the same shape and style as that of the Birka Crucifix figure.