Details

LOT 0876

Irish Early Christian Bronze Openwork Appliqué

LATER 8TH-9TH CENTURY AD

4" (71 grams, 10.5cm).

A hexagonal cast openwork fitting pierced at each angle and centrally; the border formed as slightly curved panels of regular mono-linear Insular Style interlace with a wave pattern to the inner edge; the central openwork panel formed as a central collet and four quadrupeds, each with a narrow muzzle and leaf-shaped ear, the legs terminating in loops passing over and under the body and limbs; six plain radiating bars across the border, each with a hole; the narrow front and rear sides each with an outward slightly chamfered edge, lateral lugs with evidence of piercing to form a hinge or closure.

Provenance

Ex Northern English collection; found Northumberland, UK, 1990s.

Literature

Cf. the regular interlace detail on the nasal of the Coppergate helmet in Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, item 47 and the hooked tag fragment from Scunthorpe (ibid., item 69(p)). Hammond, B. British Artefacts vol.2 - Middle Saxon & Viking, Witham, 2010, item 1.9-h, offers a close parallel with central panel of about half the size of the present piece, beast-head and raised border to the central square panel. The hexagonal form and rhythmic zoomorphic interlace design echo the corresponding features of the fitting, which is of probable Irish workmanship.

CONDITION