Lot 26A
Northern Europe, Viking / Norse, ca. 9th to 11th century CE. A gorgeous silver bracelet in fantastic condition. The body of the bracelet is a wide silver band, its surface stamped with repeated triangles, some in bands vertically down its exterior face, others around central squares, these patterns alternating all the way to the rounded, narrower terminals. Wearable! Size: 2.875" W x 1" H (7.3 cm x 2.5 cm); width of opening: 1.2" (3.2 cm)
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. Items like this bracelet would have been used as an outward display of wealth and could be melted down and reformed into a new form of currency if needed - see on the interior of this, for example, where this process is evident. One of the most common archaeological finds from the Viking period is a hoard of silver 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, the Nordic countries, and western Russia. What was the meaning of such hoards? Were they treasures buried for safe keeping, perhaps by people fleeing violence who did not wish to travel with heavy loads and who died or forgot before they could retrieve them? Or does their presence in rivers suggest votive deposits, gifts and offerings to spirits who lived in the water?
Provenance: private New York, USA Collection
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#128414
- Condition: Fine light silver patina on surface. Excellent condition.
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