Carolingian / Viking Age Bronze Equal-Arm Brooches (No reserve price)

"Carolingian / Viking Age Bronze Equal-Arm Brooches

Culture / Period: Carolingian / Viking Age
Date / Period: 8th - 10th century A.D.
Material: Bronze
Dimensions: 32 - 43 mm
Condition: Good condition

No shipping outside the European Union. Due to complex export regulations concerning cultural goods, this item cannot be shipped outside the EU. Please ensure you have a delivery address within the European Union before placing a bid.

Provenance information:
Object Registration ID: 904

The current owner (S.N.J. S.) purchased the equal-arm brooches from H. vd M. in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.

The previous owner, H. vd M. of Leeuwarden, stated that the objects had been in his collection since the 1990s.

According to the previous owner, the objects had previously formed part of a private collection in the Netherlands since before 1990.

No further information concerning the earlier ownership history of the objects was available from the previous owner.

Background Information:
Equal-arm brooches are a distinctive category of early medieval dress accessories, characterised by an elongated, approximately symmetrical form with expanded terminals. They were primarily used to fasten clothing while simultaneously serving as personal ornament. The present examples show different interpretations of the type, including moulded and geometric surface decoration.

Such brooches belong to the wider tradition of small bronze dress fittings found across northern and western Europe. During the 8th–10th centuries, the Carolingian and Viking worlds were connected through extensive networks of trade, travel and cultural exchange. Portable objects such as brooches and other personal fittings circulated within these networks, while regional workshops developed their own variations on established forms.

Production typically involved casting in copper alloy followed by finishing and the addition of decorative details, reflecting an organised tradition of specialised metalworking. Their proposed dating places these examples within the broader Carolingian and Viking Age context, when decorated metal fittings were a familiar element of everyday dress.

As personal objects once intended to be worn on clothing, these brooches provide a direct and physical link to early medieval material culture and to the people who used such objects as part of daily life."