Lot 33A
Northern Europe, Norse/Viking culture, ca. 8th to 12th century CE. A lovely gilt silver belt strap end featuring relief decoration of an abstract dragon with a sinuous, meandering body. The tongue-shaped ornament displays two rivet holes at one end for attachment. Size: 1.4" L x 0.8" W (3.6 cm x 2 cm); silver quality: 95%; gilding quality: up to 46% in areas; weight: 7.5 grams
The important Viking metalworking shops correspond to their great trading ports and proto-urban centers - Birka, Helgo, Sigtuna, and Lund in Sweden, Ribe, Haithabu (Hedeby), and Fyrkat in Denmark, and Kaupang and Trondheim in Norway. Gold objects were rare and are only found in graves of the highest status. Silver was the principal currency of the Viking world, which stretched from Russia to northern Canada at the height of their influence. In many places, the Vikings kept silver not as coins, but as jewelry, a wearable currency form that was not subject to the authority of a monarch or mint. One of the most common archaeological finds from the Viking period is a hoard of metal objects, often buried in the earth or deposited in bodies of water, like river beds. These are found in great quantities throughout the British Isles and the Nordic countries.
Provenance: private London, UK collection; ex-private Uk collection, acquired on the German art market prior to 2000
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#190632
- Condition: Intact and excellent with liberal remains of gilding.
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