Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Disc Brooch with Beast Facing Back

Formed as a single square-section wire twisted about its own length with one looped end and one hooked. 4.9 grams, 49 mm



From the private collection of the late collection of Mr M., Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK, formed from the late 1980s to early 1990s.

Plano-convex in section, the plate formed as a facing bust with rosettes flanking the waist, segmented bulbs forming the lower body; catch and lug to the reverse. 16.2 grams, 45 mm



Ex West Country collection, 1990s.

Of Williams Type 2, formed as a flat triangular plate broken across the hole which originally held the iron bit in place, from one corner the elongated terminal extends into a rounded swelling and ends in a rounded knob, possibly suggesting an animal snout; one edge of the plate with a central projecting lobe, used to form the nose of a stylised face with engraved detail resembling the paired spirals flowing up to form arching eyebrows and and eye features; above right of the face running up the top of the fitting an engraved piece of knotwork creating a four-lobed design of a band running off from the the knotwork towards the break. 36.7 grams, 63 mm



Found whilst searching with a metal detector in Folkestone and Hythe, Kent, UK. Property of a Kent gentleman, a specialist medieval collector. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.KENT-FD1DDE.