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LOT 1822
Anglo-Saxon Bronze Brooch Foot with Mask
CIRCA LATE 5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/8 in. (11.9 grams, 34 mm).
High-status finial formed as a facing mask with raised pellet eyes and arching eyebrows, triangular nose and horizontal pouting mouth; two opposing bird heads with hooked beaks flanking the brow; section of carinated footplate above. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound near North Kelsey, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a Lancashire, UK, collector.
Cf. West, S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk, East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998, fig.152(7) for mask and 152(8) for flanking birds.
FootnotesThis is the finial from the footplate of a cruciform brooch of 'florid' type, the last phase of development of this brooch type.
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LOT 1822
Anglo-Saxon Bronze Brooch Foot with Mask
Estimate £30 - 40€35 - 46 (for guidance only)$41 - 54 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£5 (EUR 6; USD 7) +BP*
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Large Anglo-Saxon Bronze Florid Cruciform Brooch
Late 5th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £240
With highly decorative openwork border of Style I ornament to the headplate formed as a rectangular median plate with lateral wings, enhanced with punched-pellet detail to the sides and top edge of each; raised central square panel with incised rosette; to the middle of each edge a Style I human mask in plan, formed as a T-shaped brow-and-nasal with two pellet eyes, with pairs of Style I profile bird-heads with curved beaks; the bow deep with facetting at each end; the footplate rectangular with Style I lappets; transverse collar above a finial Style I human mask with complex beard below; pin-lugs and scar for catchplate to reverse. 52 grams, 12.3 cm
Found Seaham, Co Durham, UK. Property of a Durham private collector.
The florid cruciform brooch presents a headplate as a rectangle above the bow, with wings visible to either side. The top and side-knobs show stylised human faces with prominent eyes. The decoration is in style 1. The finial also has the prominent eyes found on the headplate surrounds, with the nose formed by an extension of the footplate and curly moustaches forming at the same time as the part of the flanking animals. -
Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bronze Artefact Group
6th-11th century A.D.Estimate: £30 - 40 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Mixed group of items, including a pin finial, strap end, the head-plate from a brooch, and others. 124 grams total, 15-51 mm
Found Suffolk, UK. -
Anglo-Saxon Bronze Florid Brooch Terminal with Moustached Face
Circa 500-550 A.D.Estimate: £40 - 60 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Finial from the headplate of a cruciform brooch with plano-convex mask in conical brimmed hat, crescent below with bird-head terminals; remains of attachment loops to reverse. 2.3 grams, 21 mm
Found near Gunthorpe, North Norfolk, UK, on Friday 22nd October 2021. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.NMS-43286D.
