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Details
LOT 0969
Byzantine Bronze Buckle Plate
7TH-8TH CENTURY A.D.
2 1/4 in. (21.2 grams, 57 mm).
Tongue-shaped with an applied openwork panel, cross-in-wheel motif within a segmented border and zoomorphic detailing; loops to the broad end and knop finial to the rounded end.
Provenance
Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Literature
Cf. Wamser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Östliches Erbe, München, 2004, item 445, for type.
Footnotes
Within the category of these buckles to which the current example belongs to, the plate was decorated with an openwork pattern which was rivetted onto a cover plate. The central decoration varied between purely vegetal depictions, mostly vines, and allegorical animal scenes, which J. Werner interpreted as a pictorial implementation of the animal symbolism of Physiologus.
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