Ca. AD 900 - 1100.
A 22 ct gold pendant with a lunate shape and a loop for suspension. The Viking culture, contrary to popular belief, was greatly influenced by the peoples with whom it came into contact in both cults and customs. But this is completely normal considering that they were possibly amongst the greatest travellers in history and consequently connoisseurs. In jewellery, the style and iconography of the late Viking period 10th and 11th centuries were strongly inspired by Byzantine productions, the only place in the world during that historical period capable of launching fashions, creating styles and crafting objects to be traded with the entire western area that was being raided precisely by the Vikings. We are therefore not surprised that a motif such as the moon motif from Roman fashion and then passed down through Constantinople could be found around the necks of prominent Viking warriors. We also know that seven thousand Vikings formed the Varangian Guard under the direct command of the emperor of Costantinople. The threads that bound the Vikings to the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire were many and well intertwined. For similar see: Viking Art. Thames and Hudson, pg. 67, n. 64. This piece has undergone X-ray fluorescence analysis to confirm the metallurgical content suggesting its ancient origin and lack of modern trace elements.
Size: 24mm x 18mm; Weight: 2g
Provenance: From the private collection of a Cambridgeshire gentleman; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK /European art markets.