Despite being a fragment, this terminal brooch is considered one of the finest surviving pieces from the illustrious Viking era, both in terms of its artistry and technical craftsmanship. The silver sphere, although slightly wrinkled over time, was originally cast from a hollow alloy. Nearly its entire surface is adorned with intricate blacksmithing work in the early Viking style known as Jellinge/Mammen.
The raised twisted gold wire on the brooch forms a trefoil-shaped ring pattern on the elevated round gold panel. Two adjacent triangular gold panels are filled with spikes, and one of them features a medallion adorned with serpentine tendrils at its center.
This terminal brooch shares typological and aesthetic similarities with the terminal brooch and pin head discovered in a significant Viking silver hoard at Eketorp, Sweden, during the years 1950 and 1955. These items are currently housed in the Örebro Lance Regional Museum, located west of Stockholm. Much like the brooch in question, a substantial portion of the Eketorp hoard consists of silver pieces that were broken and fragmented during and after the Viking period, a common practice in monetary exchange.
When restored to its original form, this magnificent brooch would have been among the largest and heaviest known in Viking-era Europe. Its sheer size and craftsmanship suggest that its first owner was an important and influential figure in Viking society.