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LOT 0300
Frankish Bronze Buckle with Face and Globular Rivets
6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
4 3/4 x 4 in. (105 grams total, 12 x 10 cm).
The roughly D-shaped body engraved with a three-armed geometric motif, a dome between each arm, the articulate tongue with headplate engraved with a stylised hooded face or ithyphallic motif(?), oval buckle engraved with clusters of vertical lines; three pierced attachment lugs to reverse.
Provenancewith Paris Hôtel Drouot, 12 July 2005, lot 152.
Private collection, Europe.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 17.191.223, for similar.
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Merovingian Bronze Eagle Brooch
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Bird in profile facing right with highly stylised ribbed chevron detailing; remains of pin-lug and catchplate to reverse. 4.5 grams, 33 mm
‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection. -
Gothic Bronze Bow Brooch
Circa 6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
With narrow bow, openwork headplate with flanking bird-shapes, pierced lappets and bulbous tongue-shaped footplate; pin-lugs and catch to the reverse. 19.6 grams, 80 mm
From the collection of Alan Hardcastle, circa 2017. Ex private Merseyside, UK, collection. -
Large Gothic Silver-Gilt Buckle with Raven and Eagle Heads
Late 6th-early 7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,420
Comprised of a crescent loop with bird-head finials, punched-point detailing and cloison eyes; tongue with beast-head finial; plaque with separate square panel of raised ornament with garnet cloison to each corner, larger central cloison surrounded by eight smaller, profile bird-head to the rear with garnet cloison eye. 190 grams, 18 cm
Very fine condition.
Acquired in Munich in the 1970s. From an old European collection. Property of an important West London collector. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no. 11831-206924.
Numerous examples of these buckles, together with stirrup fibulae with buttons, were found in the necropolis of the Bosphorus, brought from the Danube area in the first and second half of the 6th century. They were part of the equipment of burials in crypts or inhumation tombs, dated from the end of the 6th century to the 7th century. Accurate comparisons can be made with a specimen recovered in burial tomb 315 of Eski Kermen, (first half of the 7th century), a grave belonging to a woman of Alan ethnic group, buried with Gothic ornaments.
