Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Viking or Norse culture, ca. 9th to 11th century CE. A wonderful gold pendant in the form of Mjolnir, the legendary hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor. Flattened in form, the pendant presents a trapezoidal hammer head stamped with 9 triangular motifs, each containing a circle, and a tapering handle terminating in a suspension loop. Thor's hammer was used both as a devastating weapon and as a divine instrument to provide blessings. Thus, Mjolnir ornaments, like this one, were commonly worn during the Viking Age in the Scandinavian cultural sphere, and Thor and his hammer occur depicted on a variety of objects from the archaeological record. The attractive, minimalist design of this stunning pendant creates the perfect combination of ancient art and modern style! Size: 1" L x 0.5" W (2.5 cm x 1.3 cm); gold quality: 75.6% (18.1 karats); weight: 3.7 grams
Petite Thor's hammers were worn as religious amulets throughout the Viking era, usually made of silver and usually hung on silver chains. Some even made it to the Christian era; there is a famous example of a Thor's hammer amulet from Fossi, Iceland, that has been turned into a cross. The important Viking metalworking shops correspond to their great trading ports and proto-urban centers - Birka, Helgo, Sigtuna, and Lund in Sweden, Ribe, Haithabu (Hedeby), and Fyrkat in Denmark, and Kaupang and Trondheim in Norway.
Provenance: private London, UK collection; ex-private London, UK collection, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s; ex-Hewett collection
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#191740
Condition
A few miniscule nicks commensurate with age, but otherwise, intact, wearable, and in excellent overall condition. Great preservation of stamped decoration.