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_900x900.jpg "Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooch")
_200x200.jpg "Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooch")
.jpg "Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooch")
LOT 0368
Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooch
6TH CENTURY A.D.
4 1/2 in. (82 grams, 11.5 cm).
Comprising: trapezoidal headplate with beast-head spurs to the upper angles and concentric panels of Style I ornament; shallow bow with central cell and garnet insert; long footplate with lateral lappets and central lozenge; facing mask above a trapezoidal bar finial; pin-lugs and catch to the reverse. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound U.K.
British private collection, acquired by 2000.
Cf. Hines, J., A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches, London, 1997, items 11(a) Linton Heath for headplate, 17(b) Rothley, for foot.
FootnotesThe meaning of the 'facing mask' motif is probably related to the profile masks so frequently used in Style I art, where the 'pellet' eye is enclosed by an arched frame: the 'facing mask' repeats this motif to produce a pair of eyes in a doubled 'bow'. An element of visual 'riddling' is no doubt present: the design is neither one thing nor the other, but includes elements of both.
Distribution of great square-headed brooches was initially concentrated along the valleys of the Rivers Trent, Thames and Severn, though it was later confined to the East Midlands and East Anglia (Hines, 1997, figs. 101, 102).
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Anglo-Saxon Gilt Chip-Carved Button Brooch with Helmetted Warrior
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Class Ai; broad flange rim and circular frame enclosing a facing male mask with helmet detailing; pin-lug and catch to the reverse. 2.28 grams, 16 mm
Found Hampshire, UK. -
Anglo-Saxon Gold Chip-Carved Bronze Roundel
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Central stud with six running spirals around; dimple to the reverse. 6.53 grams, 30.23 mm
Found Southern England. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection.
The item is probably the button from a shield-boss as it shows signs of a ferrous rivet to the centre. -
Anglo-Saxon Tinned Bronze Openwork Horse Harness Mount
Late 5th-early 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Disc mount with four pierced lugs to the reverse, openwork design with four radiating U-shaped elements between the arms of a cross with T-shaped voids. 26.1 grams, 57 mm
Found Southern England. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection.
The 'zoned' layout of the piece strongly recalls some of the design elements in Kentish disc brooches, where the cells contain inlaid garnets, millefiori glass, meerschaum and other materials (see Arrhenius, B., Merovingian Garnet Jewellery, Stockholm, 1985, figs. 188-193).
