Iron Age Celtic Bronze 'Horn Cap'

2ND CENTURY B.C.-EARLY 1ST CENTURY A.D.

1 3/8 in. (46.7 grams, 34 mm).

Sceptre head or other fitting with biconvex flange, domed finial.

Provenance

Found UK.
From the collection of a Yorkshire gentleman.
Property of a private collector, West London, UK.

Literature

Cf. Jope, E. M., Early Celtic Art, Oxford, 2000, pl.302-3, described as a vehicle pole and yoke fittings; Macdonald, P., Llyn Cerrig Bach. A Study of the Copper Alloy Artefacts from the Insular La Tène Assemblage, Cardiff, 2007, fig.23, item 49.

Footnotes

Twenty or so 'horn caps' are known in museums and private collections, all have been found in Britain and mostly in Southern England. Their exact function is unclear; early suggestions that they are axle fittings for chariots no longer holds weight. The shaft hole is too small and they do not appear in grave contexts containing chariots. A more likely hypothesis is that they were ceremonial, possibly a staff head or chair or saddle finial.

CONDITION

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LOT 1689