Northern Europe, Viking or Norse culture, ca. 8th to 11th century CE. A stunning bracelet comprised of three strands of high-grade silver (97% silver) wire, each with a thin pre-twisted cord surrounded by two thick cords. The strands are twisted around each other to form the body of the bracelet, and the termini are hammered and flattened to fuse the individual components. One terminal depicts an abstract serpent head - replete with a triangular head, hammered eyes and stippled decorations, and an upward-curled snout - and the other has dozens of stamped triangles and circular dots as well as a latch hook. Covered in lustrous patina, this is an elegant, wearable piece of Viking jewelry! Size: 3.125" Diameter x 3" H (7.9 cm x 7.6 cm); size (wrist opening): 2.5" Diameter (6.4 cm); quality of silver: 97%; total weight: 64.5 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. 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.
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection
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#141493
Condition
Wearable as shown. Slight bending to overall form, with softening to some stamped/hammered details, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits and great patina throughout.