Viking belt end Borre animal, silvered

Product description

The Viking belt end is crafted in the Borre style (825–970). It is well-suited to a belt strap with a width of 3 cm, and the belt end itself measures 6.8 x 2.6 cm. Examples of this belt end have been found at the ship-burial at Borre, Vestfold, Norway. They are of the exact same shape: a long belt end with geometric patterns filling the surface, ending in a triangular animal head. The execution of the animal head of this reproduced belt strap is similar to the historical originals excavated at Borre. The animal heads are shown en face and give the impression that their bodies are viewed from above. However, the decoration of the belt ends differs. The belt ends from the ship-burial at Borre are decorated with geometric but more angular patterns. The more rounded patterns on the reproduced belt end appear to have been inspired by Jellinge style patterns. Viking art was applied to several other media alongside metalwork, such as wood-carvings and stone sculptures like grave slabs. Attractive patterns that were typical of certain media were applied to others. This appears to be the case for this belt end: patterns typical of stone sculptures have here been applied to metalwork.