Details

LOT 1435

Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Mount with Wolf-Men

6TH CENTURY A.D.

1 1/4 in. (9.08 grams, 32 mm).

The majority of a mount bearing dense and enigmatic imagery recalling half-remembered legends which were already ancient when it was made; the obverse packed with a tangled mass of bands of detailed ornament which resolves itself into human (or divine?) figures, each gripping the ankles of the other, their bodies inverted and contorted in the classic Style I chip-carved fashion; the centre with a round cell, into which a flat-cut glass cloison is set, polished to reflect the light and to shimmer with blood-red brilliance.

Provenance

Found Wiltshire, UK.
Wiltshire gentleman, 2011.
TimeLine Originals, 2000s.
Property of an East Anglia gentleman.

Accompanied by a report by Anglo-Saxon and Viking specialist S. Pollington.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.10381-168115.

Literature

See MacGregor, A. and Bolick, E., A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, item 25.6, for type.

Footnotes

Anglo-Saxon and Viking specialist Stephen Pollington writes: '...the scene presented may illustrate a legend or myth of which no record survives. That said, the execution of the piece is consistent with high-status Anglo-Saxon metalwork of the 6th century, and the quality of the gilding is remarkably high. The iconography is at present unique but entirely within the Anglo-Saxon tradition.'