Schonen, ca 1000
Oak with mammoth (?) ivory, bronze, gilt
13,3 x 25,7 x 25,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. MA 286
From St Stephan's in Bamberg, acquired in 1860 as part of the Martin von Reider Collection, Bamberg
Gallery 1
Unlike Carolingian and Ottonian art, in which representation is usually modelled on the figural conception of Greco-Roman antiquity, Scandinavian art of the Viking era still clung to the stylistic tradition of Teutonic animal decoration in 1000. Reliefs of birds and quadrupeds and strap-like interlacing bands fill the entire relief surface uniformly.