The Pitney Brooch, York Viking Comb and Case, and Casket Shrine, British Museum, London, England, 2015
Brooch, from museum website: Anglo-Scandinavian, 2nd half of the 11th century AD. Found in Pitney, Somerset, England.
An entwined animal and snake in combat, this elegant openwork brooch was found in a churchyard. The skill needed to make it indicates that it was probably worn by a man or woman of some importance, and the brooch would have been considered a symbol of prestige.
The main ornament is a snake with round eyes biting the underside of a four-legged animal, which in turn bites itself. A row of beads runs along the underside of the animal which is stretched into a looped ribbon. Its hips are marked with spirals and a spindly front and back leg are shown.
The brooch is a rare and fine example of the combination of Scandinavian and English art styles. The design, with its plant-like tendrils and ribbon animals, is an English version of the final phase of Viking art, the Urnes Style. However, the delicate beading which picks out the main animal, and the scalloped border of the brooch are both Anglo-Saxon features.
The brooch was cast in bronze with a slightly convex form, then gilded on both side. The reverse is plain, and still retains some fixings for the missing pin.
Bone comb and comb case: Antler comb case with incised lattice design and pointed ends; two holes at one end. The case consists of two outer back-plates and two inner plates, separated by two end-plates and held together by four iron rivets. The outer plates are of plano-convex section with a convex outer edge, flattening at either end. The ends are ornamented in the manner of the comb-back, but with rows of transverse lines (instead of the cross-hatching) within the fields. The inner plates are of triangular section, flattening at the ends, ornamented with two rows of irregular diagonal crosses of double lines; the flattened triangular fields at either end are plain, with the transition to the central zone marked by a pair of transverse lines. The end-plates act as spacers to keep the plates apart and allow the comb to be fitted between them; they are plain with triangular ends, the top one having a pair of circular perforations for suspension. 10th-11th Century; found at York, England.
Shrine: Silver trapezoidal roof-panel from house-shaped casket shrine. It has a narrow billeted border, and is divided into four triangular zones of decoration by a diagonal cross with a billeted mid-rib, pierced by five rivet-holes. The lower field contains a lightly incised human face-mask above a line of speckled interlace. The three remaining fields contain crudely-drawn animals reserved against a background of niello, their limbs entangled in interlace. They differ in detail, but all have a large ring-and-dot eye, double-contoured, speckled bodies, and necks crossed by a limb passing through an interlaced ring. Panel has been trimmed, and pierced for secondary rivets. The back is plain. Viking or Anglo Saxon, early 10th Century.
The Pitney Brooch, York Viking Comb and Case, and Casket Shrine, British Museum, London, England, 2015
Brooch, from museum website: Anglo-Scandinavian, 2nd half of the 11th century AD. Found in Pitney, Somerset, England.
An entwined animal and snake in combat, this elegant openwork brooch was found in a churchyard. The skill needed to make it indicates that it was probably worn by a man or woman of some importance, and the brooch would have been considered a symbol of prestige.
The main ornament is a snake with round eyes biting the underside of a four-legged animal, which in turn bites itself. A row of beads runs along the underside of the animal which is stretched into a looped ribbon. Its hips are marked with spirals and a spindly front and back leg are shown.
The brooch is a rare and fine example of the combination of Scandinavian and English art styles. The design, with its plant-like tendrils and ribbon animals, is an English version of the final phase of Viking art, the Urnes Style. However, the delicate beading which picks out the main animal, and the scalloped border of the brooch are both Anglo-Saxon features.
The brooch was cast in bronze with a slightly convex form, then gilded on both side. The reverse is plain, and still retains some fixings for the missing pin.
Bone comb and comb case: Antler comb case with incised lattice design and pointed ends; two holes at one end. The case consists of two outer back-plates and two inner plates, separated by two end-plates and held together by four iron rivets. The outer plates are of plano-convex section with a convex outer edge, flattening at either end. The ends are ornamented in the manner of the comb-back, but with rows of transverse lines (instead of the cross-hatching) within the fields. The inner plates are of triangular section, flattening at the ends, ornamented with two rows of irregular diagonal crosses of double lines; the flattened triangular fields at either end are plain, with the transition to the central zone marked by a pair of transverse lines. The end-plates act as spacers to keep the plates apart and allow the comb to be fitted between them; they are plain with triangular ends, the top one having a pair of circular perforations for suspension. 10th-11th Century; found at York, England.
Shrine: Silver trapezoidal roof-panel from house-shaped casket shrine. It has a narrow billeted border, and is divided into four triangular zones of decoration by a diagonal cross with a billeted mid-rib, pierced by five rivet-holes. The lower field contains a lightly incised human face-mask above a line of speckled interlace. The three remaining fields contain crudely-drawn animals reserved against a background of niello, their limbs entangled in interlace. They differ in detail, but all have a large ring-and-dot eye, double-contoured, speckled bodies, and necks crossed by a limb passing through an interlaced ring. Panel has been trimmed, and pierced for secondary rivets. The back is plain. Viking or Anglo Saxon, early 10th Century.