Three Strand Viking Glass & Stone Bead Necklace

**First Time At Auction**

Northern Europe, Viking, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. An incredible necklace made from approximately twenty Viking beads of glass and green quartz. The beads are a delightful variety of shapes and colors. Others include white, purple, and deep ochre quartz, blue glass with iridescent and pearlescent patinas. They are strung in three strands on a modern oxidized silver chain with an S-clasp. This piece will absolutely spark conversation! Size of largest bead: 0.7" W (1.8 cm); length of strand: 22" L (55.9 cm)

By 800 CE, the Vikings were trading across a huge area, from the islands of the North Atlantic (the first glass beads known from North America appear to have come from the Viking trading post at L'anse aux Meadow, Newfoundland) to northern Russia and the Islamic world; glass beadmaking was a standard in many of the regions they visited, and so they returned home and established beadmaking workshops in Scandinavia and traded them at the great trading emporia/wics like Hedeby and Birka. Beads were often worn as festoons strung between oval brooches, though sometimes also as necklaces.

Provenance: ex-private Southern California, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#134076
Condition Report: Small chips and nicks to bead surfaces commensurate with wear. The glass beads have attractive iridescent/pearlescent patinas.