Silver, 3.97 grams, 30.46 mm. 10th-11th century AD. A penannular brooch with rectangular terminals with a punched quincunx decoration. The band is a flat casting with a central raised ridge, the outer semicircle detailed with punched pellet ornamentation. The pin is a round-section rod expanding to lateral flanges where it loops around the band, bearing similar punched decoration. Reference: cf. penannular brooch from the Rauto hoard, Karelia, Finland in Härdh, B. Silver in the Viking Age: A Regional-Economic Study, Stockholm, 1996. fig. 25, p.115. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old collection.

Copper-alloy, 15.64 grams, 53.10 mm. 12th-15th century AD. The Baltic Mordvinians' material culture developed from Scandinavian Rus-influenced fashions, including an evolved form of penannular brooch in which the terminals developed into long, rhomboidal plates. The present example comprises a round-section bar formed into a split hoop, with rhomboidal extensions decorated with triangular pelletted designs and with cast ropework loops on the exterior to which decorative chains were attached; portions of three such links formed from wire are still in place. Attached to these chains were decorative items such as the two small pierced cowrie shells here with wire loops still attached. The pin is formed from a section of a similar bar, flattened at one end and coiled around the loop. Reference: Sedov, V.V. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhy Srednevekoviya, Moscow, 1987, p.292 fig.12. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found Lake Ladoga, from an old German collection.

Copper-alloy, 16.55 grams, 57.67 mm. 12th-15th century AD. The Mordvinians' material culture developed from Rus-influenced Baltic fashions, including an evolved form of penannular brooch in which the terminals developed into long, rhomboidal plates. The present example comprises a round-section bar formed into a split hoop, with rhomboidal extensions decorated with triangular pelletted designs and with cast ropework loops on the exterior to which decorative chains were attached (a wire link from one chain is still in situ). The pin is formed from a section of a similar bar, flattened at one end and coiled around the loop. Reference: Sedov, V.V. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhy Srednevekoviya, Moscow, 1987, p.292 fig.12. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found Lake Ladoga, from an old German collection.

Copper-alloy, 39.32 grams, 53.51 mm. 10th-11th century AD. A good example of a late Viking penannular brooch of eastern Baltic type. The band is formed from a single quadrangular-section bar which has been twisted to form a spiral across about half of the arc. The ends are plain circular-section rod which curve to form transverse-plate terminals: unusually, one terminal is circular and the other quadrangular, and both are decorated with incised decoration of a central saltire within a square surrounded by a row of punched pellets within an outer border. The pin is a lentoid-section rod expanding to a long triangular plate which loops around the band; punched dot detailing is placed on the expanded loop, while the pin is ornamented with panels of pellet decoration. Reference: Griciuviene, E. Ziemgaliai - The Semigallians, Latvian National Museum, 2005, item 1253. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 12.15 grams, 45.71 mm. 9th-12th century AD. A penannular brooch made from a square-section band twisted to provide a facetted effect, with the ends bent through 90 degrees ending in disc terminals with incised decoration in the form of a cross with a roundel in each quadrant. The brooch is complete with a long, flat pin with scrolled attachment to the band. Reference: Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000, p.203 and pl.239. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 6.90 grams, 38.96 mm. 9th-12th century AD. A small penannular brooch made from a round-section band with scrolled terminals and a long, narrow pin with scrolled attachment to the band. Reference: Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000, p.203 and pl.233. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Sittingbourne, Kent, England.

Silver, 12.49 grams; 71.02 mm. 10th-11th century AD. A beautiful penannular brooch with polyhedral terminals detailed with incised decoration featuring a lozenge with an internal cross. The band is decorated with incised linear ornamentation in the 10th-11th century Ringerike Style. The design starts in the upper centre with a series of interlocked D-shaped sections, extending on both sides to elongated lobes with central projections; this design is repeated ending just above the terminals. This motif is a development of the design of two opposed beasts with their heads hanging down at each side and bodies looping and returning to the base. (This motif can be seen for example on mount 11, p.29 of Williams, D. Late Saxon Stirrup-Strap Mounts – A Classification and catalogue, CBA Research Report 111, York, 1997; also ibid.fig. 350 on p. 9 shows the end transformation of this design.) The pin is looped around the band and has a wide sub-triangular plate detailed with a border of punched roundels in two rows, and three median lines of punched dots; the plate tapers sharply and forms a thin round-section pin. Reference: Härdh, B. Silver in the Viking Age: A Regional-Economic Study, Stockholm, 1996. fig. 25, p.115. Very fine condition. Ex old American collection. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Silver, 10.22 grams, 61.32 mm. 12th-15th century AD. The Baltic Mordvinians' material culture developed under the influence of the Scandinavian Rus, including a form of penannular brooch in which the terminals evolved into long, rhomboidal plates. The present example comprises a round-section bar formed into a split hoop, with rhomboidal extensions decorated with opposed triangular pelletted designs. The pin is formed from a section of a finer bar, flattened at one end and coiled around the loop. Reference: Sedov, V.V. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhy Srednevekoviya, Moscow, 1987, p.292 fig.12. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old German collection, found Lake Ladoga.

Copper-alloy, 17.19 grams, 59.52 mm. 12th-15th century AD. The Mordvinians' material culture developed from Rus-influenced Baltic fashions, among which is a form of penannular brooch in which the terminals evolved into long, rhomboidal plates. The present example comprises a round-section bar formed into a split hoop, with rhomboidal extensions decorated with triangular pelletted designs and with cast ropework loops on the exterior to which decorative chains were attached. The pin is formed from a section of the same bar, flattened at one end and coiled around the loop. Reference: Sedov, V.V. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhy Srednevekoviya, Moscow, 1987, p.292 fig.12. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old German collection, found Lake Ladoga.

Copper-alloy, 13.77 grams, 46.95 mm. 10th-11th century AD. A dished D-section band with expanded animal-head terminals.The outer and inner edges of the band are adorned with billetted bands and the central field bears a row of pellets. The pin is a circular-section rod with a sharp pint, expanding to a flat scrolled terminal looped around the band. A good example of a Baltic clothes fastener of the later Viking period. Reference: Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000, Plate 32 - grave 795 item 6. Very fine condition.

Silver, 14.29 grams, 59.60 mm. 12th-15th century AD. The Mordvinians of the Volga region of Russia are sometimes linked to the Mordens who were mentioned as subjects of the Gothic king Ermanarik in the 4th century AD (Jordanes, Getica). Their material culture developed its own styles, among which is a form of penannular brooch in which the terminals evolved into long, rhomboidal plates. The present example comprises a round-section bar formed almost to a circle, with triangular extensions decorated with triangular pelletted designs. The pin is formed from a section of the same bar, flattened at one end and coiled around the loop. Reference: Sedov, V.V. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhy Srednevekoviya, Moscow, 1987, p.292 fig.12. Extremely fine condition. Found Lake Ladoga. Ex old European collection.

Copper-alloy, 49.32 grams, 75.93 mm. 9th-10th century AD. The brooch is formed from a flat D-section bar which has been worked to produce a thicker, broader section in the middle. The ends of the bar are bent and formed into collared lozengiform terminals. The pin is absent. Reference: Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000, pl51 G.1056. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 15.23 grams; 41.97 mm. 9th-10th century AD. A small penannular brooch with a flat, rectangular-section band with scrolled terminals and a long pin. Reference: Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000. Very fine condition. Ex old European collection.

Silver, 9.89 grams; 52.14 mm. Circa 12th-15th century AD. A good example of a Baltic 'Omega' type penannular brooch executed in silver. The two trapezoidal plates below the band are decorated with niello inlay in the form of a herringbone pattern as found on some early Viking pattern-welded swords. The brooch features a sturdy plain silver pin. Reference: Sedov, V.V. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhy Srednevekoviya, Moscow, 1987, p.292 fig.12. Good Very Fine condition. Provenance: found near Lake Ladoga.