A HIGH KARAT VIKING TWISTED GOLD RING, CIRCA 9TH-10TH CENTURY A.D.

拍品描述

A HIGH KARAT VIKING TWISTED GOLD RING, CIRCA 9TH-10TH CENTURY A.D. Formed from two thick gold rods twisted together into a tight spiral, the ends drawn down and bound at the base by a pair of collared ferrules that secure the closure. The twist runs evenly around the circumference, each rod retaining a smooth rounded section that catches the light along the ridges of the spiral. The surface preserves the bright, slightly granular finish characteristic of high-purity gold, with faint traces of green mineral staining at the binding and along the lower hoop, indicating contact with a copper-alloy element during burial. The form belongs to the established Scandinavian tradition of twisted-rod finger rings, in which two or more rods of gold or silver were heated, laid parallel, and torqued around their shared axis to produce a uniform spiral. The technique was applied at every scale of Viking personal ornament, from arm-rings and neck-rings down to finger-rings of the present type, and the visual logic of the twisted rod was understood as a signature of Norse goldsmithing across the North Sea world. The bound terminals, formed by wrapping the drawn ends with separately worked collars, are a recurrent feature of the smaller rings of this group and provided both a mechanical closure and a deliberate decorative accent at the base of the hoop. In the Viking economy, gold of this purity functioned simultaneously as ornament and as portable wealth. Unlike silver, which circulated widely in hacksilver form and dominated the bullion economy of the ninth and tenth centuries, gold was comparatively scarce and tended to be reserved for objects of higher status, gift exchange between elites, and oath-bound personal ornament. A ring of solid high-karat gold of this weight class would have represented a significant store of value as well as a mark of rank, and its survival intact, rather than cut for bullion, is itself notable. The twisted form carried associations with binding and pledge that ran through the wider material culture of the period, from arm-rings sworn upon to the ring-giving language of the skaldic tradition. This ring exemplifies the disciplined economy of Viking goldwork, in which a single structural idea, the torqued rod, is carried through at every scale and finished with the same restrained vocabulary of bound terminals. Its intact condition and the integrity of the twist place it among the more complete survivals of the type. Diameter: 2.2cm

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