Viking casket
Type:
Boxes
Date:
late tenth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Germany
Medium:
Ivory,
Wood,
Gilt-bronze,
Rock crystal
Dimensions:
13.3 × 25.7 cm
Description:
This casket, now in Munich, was in the church of St. Stephen in Bamberg by 1608, when it was recorded in an inventory. But it is much older: it is a Viking work of the late tenth century. In Bamberg it was used as a Christian reliquary, but originally it likely held precious secular objects, probably jewelry, given the locking mechanism on the lid (the T-shaped keyhole is visible). A Viking grave in Haldum (eastern Jutland) contained a box with the same kind of complicated metal lock, although the rest of that box had disappeared.
The casket is made of oak and ivory (walrus or mammoth) with gilded bronze fittings. The thin ivory panels are carved with alternating bird and quadruped interlaces, plus one human mask on the lid; faces also appear on the four protruberances on the lid. The style, known as Mammen, was used on Scandinavian objects from Britain to Rus'. It is characterized by ribbonlike animals and vegetal elements with S-shaped tendrils; the bodies are filled with raised pellet ornaments. The same style appear on the handful of other Viking works that probably arrived in Europe around the same time: a casket formerly in Kamień (Cammin), Poland (now lost); a sword hilt in Prague; a small cylindrical container in Léon, Spain; and a crozier head in Hungary. They attest to the movement of portable objects, via trade or gift giving, from southern Scandinavia to the European mainland.
The casket formerly in Bamberg has traditionally been associated with Kunigunde (Cunegunde), the daughter of Cnut (Knutr) the Great, king of Denmark, Norway, and England. She married the future emperor Henry III in 1036 and died a few years later. While an association between Kunigunde and this casket cannot be proved, both Henry II (whose wife was also named Kunigunde) and Henry III donated many gifts to churches in Bamberg.
The casket is made of oak and ivory (walrus or mammoth) with gilded bronze fittings. The thin ivory panels are carved with alternating bird and quadruped interlaces, plus one human mask on the lid; faces also appear on the four protruberances on the lid. The style, known as Mammen, was used on Scandinavian objects from Britain to Rus'. It is characterized by ribbonlike animals and vegetal elements with S-shaped tendrils; the bodies are filled with raised pellet ornaments. The same style appear on the handful of other Viking works that probably arrived in Europe around the same time: a casket formerly in Kamień (Cammin), Poland (now lost); a sword hilt in Prague; a small cylindrical container in Léon, Spain; and a crozier head in Hungary. They attest to the movement of portable objects, via trade or gift giving, from southern Scandinavia to the European mainland.
The casket formerly in Bamberg has traditionally been associated with Kunigunde (Cunegunde), the daughter of Cnut (Knutr) the Great, king of Denmark, Norway, and England. She married the future emperor Henry III in 1036 and died a few years later. While an association between Kunigunde and this casket cannot be proved, both Henry II (whose wife was also named Kunigunde) and Henry III donated many gifts to churches in Bamberg.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
6
Repository and Online Resources:
• The casket is in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, inv. no. MA 286.
• For styles in Scandinavian art, see this website.
Image Credits:
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
