Amuletsthe gallery← amulets.guru
Norse, Germanic, Baltic & Slavic · c. 500 BCE – 1900 CE

Kaptorgas & capsule amulets

Meaning

A kaptorga is a small box pendant that held something precious and protective: herbs, fragrant substances, a relic, or a written charm.

Intent

Worn by women on necklaces, it kept its contents' protection close to the body, perhaps also against bad smells believed to carry disease.

Significance

Kaptorgas show the capsule-amulet idea (as in bullae and encolpia) at the edge of Europe during Christianisation, and are status jewels of early Polish, Czech and Scandinavian women.

History

They are found mainly in 10th–11th century graves in Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, Hungary and Scandinavia, often in silver with granulation. They disappear in the 12th century.

Making yours
2–4 cm trapezoid box in silver sheet with granulation and filigree, with a hinged lid and two loops.
Norse, Germanic, Baltic & Slavic: the tradition

In pre-Christian Scandinavia and the Germanic world, protection came from the gods and from signs: Thor's hammer, runes, gold bracteates stamped with Odin. Amber from the Baltic shore had been carved into amulets since the Stone Age. Christianisation from the 9th to 11th centuries produced hybrid objects such as crosses cast in the same moulds as hammers. In the Slavic East, Byzantine Orthodoxy met older fever and serpent beliefs to produce the zmeevik. Scandinavian and Finnish peasant culture kept a strong tradition of protective objects against trolls, the evil eye and illness into the 19th and 20th centuries, documented by folklorists and now in the ethnographic museums of Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki.

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Kaptorga (část)Kaptorga (část)Středočeský krajBasel 2012-10-06 Batch Part 2Basel 2012-10-06 Batch Part 2From Slavic graves, necklace, City of Prague MuseumFrom Slavic graves, necklace, City of Prague MuseumHolm kaptorgaHolm kaptorgaKaptorga of the Princess of Kouřim, 900-950 AD, NM PragueKaptorga of the Princess of Kouřim, 900-950 AD, NM PraguePlaketa-želenkyPlaketa-želenkyTreasures of the middle ages exhibition Plock 2019 P08 Amulet case trapeze-shaped silver Treasury from BorucinTreasures of the middle ages exhibition Plock 2019 P08 Amulet case trapeze-shaped silver Treasury from BorucinKaptorgaKaptorgaJewellery from the Princely burial from Kolín, 850-900 ADJewellery from the Princely burial from Kolín, 850-900 ADKaradorde's amulet, 18 c, RussiaKaradorde's amulet, 18 c, RussiaTreasures of the middle ages exhibition Plock 2019 P06 Chain with zoomorphic terminals silver Treasury from BorucinTreasures of the middle ages exhibition Plock 2019 P06 Chain with zoomorphic terminals silver Treasury from Borucin02022. Archaeological exhibition SIX-WALLS OF THE PAST02022. Archaeological exhibition SIX-WALLS OF THE PASTAmulet caseAmulet caseHhega'bs--one fourth of the real size (1836) - TIMEAHhega'bs--one fourth of the real size (1836) - TIMEAJewellery of Princess of Kouřim, 900-950 AD, NM PragueJewellery of Princess of Kouřim, 900-950 AD, NM PragueKaptorga from the Princely burial from Kolín, 850-900 ADKaptorga from the Princely burial from Kolín, 850-900 ADByzantine buckle MNMA Cl23273Byzantine buckle MNMA Cl23273

More from Norse, Germanic, Baltic & Slavic: Thor’s hammers (Mjölnir) · Bracteates · Amber amulets · Zmeeviks & lunnitsy · Scandinavian, Finnish & Sámi folk charms · Other & unsorted Norse
Every type in the gallery

Anything in the gallery can be made: any piece, any tradition, in its own material or yours, by hand from the documented original. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted before anything is made. I reply within one business day.