The torc is composed of two solid gold rods twisted together with a loop terminal at each end. The torc appears to have been ritually twisted.
The torc is composed of two solid gold rods twisted together with a loop terminal at each end. The torc appears to have been ritually twisted.
Provenance
London art market Christie's, London, 7 December 1994, lot 172 Property from the Bayreuth Trust
Literature
The gold content of the bracelet is 97% pure. Although the findspot for this example has sadly not been preserved, it is likely to have come from East Anglia. For similar examples from British finds, see the group of twisted gold torcs with loop terminals from Snettisham, Norfolk, (the land of the Iceni tribe) now in the British Museum, acc. no. 1991,0407.17. The site near the village of Snettisham is on the north-west coast of Norfolk, overlooking the Wash. The original hoard (incuding 'The Snettisham Great torc') was discovered in 1951, but many further hoards of Iron Age torcs have since been found at this site. For others from Suffolk (territory of the Trinovantes tribe), see the Ipswich torcs: British Museum acc. no. 1969,0103.1-5.