Norwegian silver gilt brudekrone - £4700 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Brides of all social strata in Scandinavia wore wedding crowns for the marriage ceremony. Many were handed down as heirlooms in wealthy families and often lent to poorer families.
The crown itself recalls the crown of the Virgin with the decoration (here set with facet-cut red stones and engraved vignettes) emblematic of fertility.
The crown, consigned from a Kent estate, attracted bidding from several collectors in Norway all keen to repatriate the piece, but it was won by a London phone bidder with a bid of £4700 (estimate £1000-1500) at the auction on November 26.
