Large Germanic Silver Buckle

6TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/2 in. (101 grams, 87 mm).

A heavy silver belt buckle, the bow and tongue decorated with raised nodules, rectangular plate with beaded edges, pierced through the corners, modern plate for attachment.

Provenance

Acquired mid 1980s to early 1990s.
Private family collection formed in London.

Literature

See Kokowski, A., Leiber, C., Die Vandalen: Die Könige, die Eliten, die Krieger, die Handwerker, Nordstemmen 2003, p.391; see also Archäologischen Landesmuseum, Die Alamannen, Stuttgart, 1997, p.263.

Footnotes

The construction of the buckle loop and tongue could suggest that this object originates from the Heruli culture, when compared to finds like those from the Ulów graves. Another possibility is that the buckle belongs to Alemannic or Frankish culture. The rectangular buckle plate seems to be an addition from a different buckle of Gothic type, but the assemblage could have been done already in antiquity.

CONDITION

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LOT 1186