Northern Europe, Viking / Norse culture, ca. 9th to 11th century CE. A heavy, luxurious silver bowl with a flat base and steep, slanted sides, hammered into shape. The interior of the bowl has a complex design worked in dots of interlocking squares, diamonds, triangles, and lines, forming a multi-pointed, over-layered series of patterned squares in tondo and down the sides. The exterior has a slight texture that may be an old and worn design or may be the result of this piece being made from re-used silver like coins hammered into shape. The dotted design on this bowl closely resembles that found in the St. Ninian's Isle treasure, a hoard from Shetland, Scotland, of twenty-eight silver and gilt silver objects from ca. 800 CE. Although many of the items in the hoard are local to Scotland (and therefore Pictish), the area was in close contact with Vikings. Size: 6.4" W x 1.6" H (16.3 cm x 4.1 cm); 449 grams.

A silver bowl such as this one could be an object of great religious power in the Viking world. In "Olafs saga helga" (The Saga of St. Olaf), written by Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230 CE, there is a scene between two Vikings who have found a sacred grove where an image of the god Jómali guards a hoard of gold and silver treasure, including a silver bowl full of coins. The Vikings steal the bowl and coins without thought and are cursed by Jómali for their trouble, with one murdering the other.

A bowl like this was probably deposited in a treasure hoard. 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. These are found in great quantities throughout the British Isles and the Nordic countries. What was the meaning of such hoards? Were they treasures buried for safe keeping, perhaps by people fleeing violence who did not wish to travel with heavy loads and who died or forgot before they could retrieve them? Or does their presence in rivers suggest votive deposits, gifts and offerings to spirits who lived in the water? This bowl would have been incredibly valuable to its owners, used as part of the important social ritual of feasting, in religious ceremonies, and, ultimately, to deposit as treasure.

Provenance: private New York City, New York, USA collection

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#123110

Slight age patina. Excellent condition otherwise.