**Originally Listed At $200**

Russia, Western Siberia, Yamal Peninsula and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (District), Permian Animal Style / Early Viking Rus, ca. 5th to 10th CE. An elaborate bronze pendant, created to jangle, rustle, and catch light when worn on a hunter's belt. The form is of two horse's heads back to back, with detailed faces and manes; this piece is made of white bronze (a copper alloy with a high percentage of tin). Originally, it would have had six chains that dangled from the six loops along its lower edge, each terminating in a crow's foot; now only one fully remains. Those dangling components are made from a more traditional bronze allow and have a different patina. Size: 2" W x 3.7" H (5.1 cm x 9.4 cm)

These objects are rare outside of the Russian world, and nearly all of the information published about them is in Russian. They often include stylized human figures and animal iconography like these horses. Who the makers of these beautiful pieces were is not fully understood yet, but they seem to have been inspired by the Scytho-Siberians who came before them, and the Vikings who they would have had contact with in the west.

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection

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#128394

Nice patina on all surfaces, with a darker silver patina on the horses; darker green patina on the dangling components. Only one of the six dangling components is intact; three others are fragmentary, lacking the crow foot, and the other two are fully lost.