LOT 0519

Viking Scandinavian Bronze Facing Masks and Figures Oval Brooch Pair

9TH CENTURY AD

3 3/4" (119 grams total, 92 mm, 93 mm).

A matched pair of scaphoid domed brooches, the precursor to the more elaborate two-part 'tortoise' brooches, each an elliptical dome decorated with a transverse band of ribbed decoration featuring four facing masks with pellet eyes; the outer fields with zoomorphic tendril designs edged by a ropework border; the outer flange bearing punched decoration, annular and linear; to the reverse of each, the integral pin-bar, thick catchplate and angled loop in place, one brooch with its pin, the loop provided for the attachment of a chain. [2]

From an important British collection; acquired 1990s.

Cf. Ewing, T. Viking Clothing, Strood, 2007, fig.36.