Rare plaque in green metamorphic stone, chlorite schist lime - Lot 7

Rare plaque in green metamorphic stone, chlorite schist limestone, carved in bas-relief depicting a standing man armed with sword and knife between two erect bears. The two plantigrades are menacing, grabbing the hunter's arms and seemingly devouring his head; the man is trapped by the two animals, his legs slumped in their grip. Sophisticated stylization of the various parts of the reliefs: the man's hair and the bears' heads are made with a juxtaposition of dots, the tunic is braided with criss-crossed straps, and the coats are in diagonal bands of vertical lines. Sweden, Vendel Age, second half 6th/early 7th century H. 6.8 cm - L. 6.9 cm - Thickness 1 cm Soclée (slight wear, calcareous deposits) This greenschist plaque is the only example of a model designed to produce a mold for bronze dies such as those discovered near Torslunda on the island of Öland in Sweden in 1870 (fig.a). These dies were then used to make the silver or gold leaf that adorned the helmets of warriors in Scandinavia's Merovingian period, known as the Age of Vendel (550-793). Their main defensive weaponry consisted of a bronze or iron helmet with compartmentalized decoration designed to accommodate these thin metal plates with low-relief ornamentation depicting human figures. The helmet from the Vendel treasure trove, Uppland, circa 600 A.D., which has lost its precious lining, is one of the few surviving examples (fig.b). The replica of the Staffordshire helmet from the first half of the 7th century, with its strong Scandinavian influence, gives an idea of the magnificence of the ceremonial weaponry of this period (fig.c). Among the four plates found at Torslunda (approx. 4.5 cm x 5.5 cm), which are preserved in Stockholm's Historical Museum, archaeologists have identified two different types of workmanship. The two depicting fights with animals, which can be directly related to this small schist plaque, are considered to be of much higher quality, while the other two are said to be reproductions of pieces already cast. One of these bronze plaques represents exactly the same theme, that of a man fighting between two bears (inv.4325). This is therefore a real discovery, the only known model to have been used to make a mold, an essential step in the process of manufacturing gold coatings for pre-Viking weaponry. In addition to constituting a hitherto unpublished link, this carefully and aesthetically crafted bas-relief in fine-grained metamorphic stone of a beautiful green color is a true objet d'art, testifying to the excellent mastery of stone sculptors belonging to one of the most mysterious civilizations of the Western world in the High Middle Ages. Provenance : - Former archaeology collection, Normandy Works consulted : - M. Axboe, "Copying in Antiquity: The Torslunda Plates" in Studien zur Sachsenforschung, vol. 6, Hildesheim, 1987, pp. 13-21. - M. Friedrich, Figural Art of Central and North-West Europe c. 550-700 AD: Pagan or Christian?, thesis defended at the University of York, 2016, pp. 58-60. - P. Périn and J. Soulat, "Un grand dépôt d'objets de prestige de l'époque anglo-saxonne: le trésor du Staffordshire" in Bulletin de la Société nationale des Antiquaires de France, 2015, p. 58-63. A scientific analysis will be provided to the purchaser by the Re.S.Artes laboratory, which confirms an alteration corresponding for this type of rock to ageing over several centuries (Report R 145250A-2, January 25, 2024).