Viking Silver Thor's Hammer & Chain - 131.3 g

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 21, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-02-21 10:00:00 2019-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3858
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• Lot Description
  Northern Europe, Viking or Norse culture, ca. 800 to 1100 CE. An incredible long, knitted silver chain ending in two cast terminals with small stamped and repeated circular designs; hanging from it on a narrow ring with coiled ends is a Thor's hammer amulet, also known as Mjolnir. The hammer is stamped with the same motifs as the terminals, as well as triangular motifs that were ubiquitous on Viking metalwork, although their meaning is lost to time. Narrow silver wires, twisted around themselves, connect the hammer to the chain. Size of hammer: 1" W x 1.9" H (2.5 cm x 4.8 cm); length of chain: 31" L (78.7 cm); total weight: 131.3; silver quality of all elements is 96% or higher.
  
  Small Thor's hammers were worn as religious amulets throughout the Viking era, usually made of silver and usually hung on silver chains. 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 chain itself, meanwhile, is a style of knitwork done with thin silver wire that seems to have originated with the Vikings. 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. These are found in great quantities throughout the British Isles and the Nordic countries.
  
  Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #139863

  Condition

  Matte patina on surface. Slight bending to form, especially to the wires that are holding the hammer to the chain. The chain itself is in very nice condition, with no breaks to the links. Hammer has been partially worn smooth, probably from touch.
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