1046 - A silver cross-shaped pendant with punched decoration and inlays, Viking, 10th century.

A silver cross-shaped pendant with punched decoration and inlays, Viking, 10th century. Thick silver sheet, cut out in the shape of a paw-shaped cross with crossbars that curve outward only slightly toward the ends. The center and the ends of the cross arms are pierced through from the back. The edges of the piercings serve as rims for holding five differently colored glass inlays (ruby red in the center; in the cross arms, clockwise from the top: turquoise, pink, yellow, and green). The backs of the perforations are covered by significantly larger pieces of silver sheet, which serve as the bases of the settings and are secured with rivets (two on the cross arms, four in the center). On the upper crossbar, an eyelet made of bent silver sheet is additionally secured with two rivets. The eyelet and the front of the cross are richly decorated with hallmarks. The eyelet features longitudinal circular eyes on the dome and dot hallmarks along the lower edge. Surrounding the central inlay are four triangular marks with raised dots in the recesses. The settings in the cross arms (with the exception of the lower one) are surrounded by dot marks, separated in the spaces between them by lines tapering outward that resemble rays. The edge of the cross is completely surrounded by a row of dot marks. Slight signs of wear, but most notably distinct notches along the upper edge of the eyelet, which attest to the pendant’s intensive use. Height 6.2 cm. Width 5.8 cm. An impressive artifact from the period of the Christianization of the North Germanic peoples during the late Viking Age. CULTURAL HERITAGE! Provenance: Private collection in southern Germany, acquired in the late 1990s from the collector’s father’s collection. Condition: I–II