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_900x900.jpg "Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Double-Axe Shield Mount")
_200x200.jpg "Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Double-Axe Shield Mount")
.jpg "Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Double-Axe Shield Mount")
LOT 1339
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Double-Axe Shield Mount
6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/4 in. (7.5 grams, 45 mm).
With lozengiform central element and T-shaped 'axe' extensions; the lozenge with three-band collars, punched bands to the edges and central quatrefoil motif with pellets to the ends; two thick mounting lugs to the reverse, one with its mounting rove in place.
ProvenanceFound Hertfordshire, UK.
LiteratureSee Dickinson, T.M., 'Symbols of Protection: The Significance of Animal-Ornamented Shields in Early Anglo-Saxon England' in Med.Arch. vol. XLIX, 2005, pp.109-163, fig.13,e; Hammond, B., British Artefacts vol.1 - Early Anglo-Saxon, Witham, 2009, p.75-81, for discussion.
FootnotesThe mount belongs to the typology of symmetrically-shaped fittings with lozengiform or ovoid body. Comparisons might be made with a pair of bichrome fittings from a shield in Sleaford 136. Their ridged, gilded and punched bodies are not unlike that of the Sutton Hoo 018, 868 aquatic mount, but both their originally terminals are triangular or trapezoidal. They are therefore purely geometric, though it is a moot point whether a zoomorphic (aquatic) appearance was intended or given.
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Anglo-Saxon Bronze Helmetted Head Button Brooch Collection
Circa 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Comprising four uncleaned brooches displaying stylised male faces, including one with traces of gilding; each with remains of pin lug and catchplate to reverse. 15.7 grams total, 14-21 mm
Found Berkshire, UK. -
Saxon Silver-Gilt Pin with Beast Heads
8th century A.D.Estimate: £400 - 600 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
With a flat, tongue-shaped head connected to the shaft by a rectangular collar; the shaft with a bulbous 'rib’ approximately 20 mm from the tip; the upper portion of the head with radiate detailing and a Trewhiddle Style zoomorph; recessed panel with knotwork motif below, within an elliptical panel with lateral flanches towards the base. 2.91 grams, 76 mm
Ex Lord McAlpine collection. Ex David Miller collection.
Dress pins of this period are often 'hipped', with a small bulb about two-thirds of the length of the shank in order to secure them in the weave of the fabric. The present piece is very delicate and would have been suitable only for a fine linen or silk garment of the highest quality. -
Superb Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,700
Of Hines's Group X with two discs on the headplate in a rectangular frame surrounded by a frieze of facing human masks, and another mask placed centrally above the junction with the bow; shallow bow with three ribs; curved horse-head lappets flanking a vertical shank with facing mask detailing, discoid lobes and an inverted mask below; pin-lugs to the reverse and solder-scar where the catchplate was attached. 128 grams, 14 cm
Found near Grimsby, Humberside, UK, circa 2010. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11899-204377.
The brooch has many of the characteristics of Hines's Group X but also bears a strong resemblance to an unclassified example from Barrington A, Cambridgeshire (Hines, 1997, pl.101). The frieze of facing masks which forms the border to the headplate has echoes of contemporary motifs found on the headplate of the brooch from Fridaythorpe (Hines, 1997, pl.8(b)) and the crests of helmets such as Valsgarde mounds 5 and 7 (Sweden) - see Mortimer, 2011, p.32-35). The inverted mask on the finial echoes the 7th century shield-fitting from Vall, Gotland (Franceschi et al, 2005, pl.209). The significance of the mask motifs has been discussed in the cited works of Franceschi et al and Mortimer. A link to generations of deified ancestors is one possibility.
