Northern Europe, Viking/Norse culture, ca. 10th to 12th century CE. A high quality silver necklace featuring a chain comprised of over 50 slender pieces bent to form interconnecting links. The chain terminates at two loops that attached to a triangular pendant incised with geometric patterns of triangles circular shapes. Additional wires create a wrapped rope pattern and a loop attaches this pendant to a twisted and knotted hoop that holds Thor's hammer. The hammer is suspended with a perforation through the top and articulates along the loop. A thin wire embellishes and wraps around the body forming an X shape. The handle and head are also incised with a geometric pattern of triangles and circles. This stunning necklace is wearable and has a nice patina! Size pendant area: 4" L x .5" W (10.2 cm x 1.3 cm); chain: 23.5" L (59.7 cm): quality of silver: 32.45 to 97.89%; total weight: 70.0 grams
Small Thor's hammers were worn as religious amulets throughout the Viking era, usually made of silver and usually hung on silver chains such as this example! Some even made it to the Christian era; there is a famous example of a Thor's hammer amulet from Fossi, Iceland, that has been turned into a cross. 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. 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.
Provenance: private New York City, New York, USA collection; ex-private Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) and then Latvia collection; found on the Baltic Sea coast prior to 1982
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#161419
Condition
Wearable with a dark patina on hammer! Some softening of details on pendant.