4th-7th century AD. A gold bucket pendant with cylindrical body, domed base and flat-section crescentic handle, decorated with applied filigree loops and pellets. See Khrapunov I. and Stylegar, F.A., Inter Ambo Maria, Contacts between Scandinavia and the Crimea in the Roman Period; and ????? ?, ?., ???????????? ?, ?, 1989, ?? ????? ????????? ?????????-???????? ???????? ??????? ? ????????? ??????, ??, No.3. 1.50 grams, 13mm (1/2"). From the family collection of a UK gentleman, by descent in the early 1970s; previously acquired before 1960. Pendants in the form of miniature buckets have been found in a number of pagan Anglo-Saxon and Viking contexts and are generally made of bronze or iron, with gold examples being rare; three gold examples were found with the hoard from Hoen, Norway. Bronze bucket amulets have been found at Driffield in Yorkshire, and Vimose bog in Denmark, among other places. In form they represent wooden buckets bound with bronze or iron bands which have been found in Anglo-Saxon and Viking graves and are believed to have held mead or ale and were used to replenish the cups from which warriors drank. As amulets they probably represent the ecstatic power of alcoholic drink and the role of women as the dispensers of these precious beverages. [No Reserve] Condition Report Very fine condition.