Ca. 9th-11th Century AD
An exquisite gold finger-ring formed of two square-sectioned rods twisted together in an elaborate design. These then taper to ends which have been hammered together into a thin band and secured with two symmetrical, wrapped terminals.
 
At the end of the 7th Century AD, gold became relatively scarce in Scandinavia as the flow of the material from the Byzantine and Islamic worlds began to wane. A find of pure gold such as this ring is thus relatively rare. Remarkably in comparison to silver, gold rings are rarely discovered in graves but rather occur almost exclusively in hoard contexts.
 
Fabetch has found that, along with being buried for safekeeping or as a store of wealth, gold rings were also passed down in temple hoards as religious items, protected from possible destruction during the rapid Christianisation of the Scandinavian world. For a similar example, see: The British Museum Museum number: 1853,0412.71
 
Provenance: From the private collection of a Central London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/European art market before 2000.
 
For additional information see: Wendt, A., 2008. “Viking Age Gold Rings and the Question of “Gefolgschaft”.