Details

LOT 1066

Khazar Gilt Sword Belt Buckle and Mount Group

9TH-10TH CENTURY A.D.

1 1/2 - 2 3/8 in. (67 grams total, 37-59 mm).

Comprising four gilt copper-alloy sword belt fittings: a large buckle plate with ogival head and trefoil plate; a buckle with roughly D-shaped loop and shell-style plate, triangular-section tongue; a buckle composed of an oval head and roughly rectangular plate decorated with an X-motif and enigmatic forms in each quarter, articulate tongue; a C-section mount displaying raised floral vines. [4, No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired in the 1980s-1990s.
Ex an important central London gallery, London W1.

Literature

Cf. Zakharow, A., Arendt, W., Studia Levedica, Archaeologischer Beitrag zur Geschichte der Altungarn im IX JH., Budapest, 1935, fig.12, p.24 (buckle), for a nearly identical specimen.

Footnotes

These wonderful fittings show similarities with examples from the Caucasus and Kuban regions. They show parallels with specimens from the Verchne-Szaltovo area, for example a bronze buckle from the catacomb grave no.11.