Large Saxon Period Bronze Ring with Porcupine

Comprising: two buckles; a snake-head hook; a Hiberno-Norse strap end with interlaced design; two hooked tags; a fragmentary strap end and belt end; a large hooked tag with interlaced design. 107 grams total including documents, 19-81 mm



Found Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, UK. From the private collection of Robin Sykes, Yorkshire, UK, formed since the late 1990s. Three objects with record sheets by Jim Halliday plus accompanied by various other correspondence from Lincolnshire museum services. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Slender round-section hoop with raised facetted bezel decorated with a stylised porcupine. 4.47 grams, 26.43 mm overall, 22.49 x 19.66 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Discoid and hollow to the reverse with raised rim and suspension hook base; panel of seven La Tène spirals with an enamelled field, commas between, central raised ring with three equally spaced millefiori glass inlays; extremely rare. 11.60 grams, 40 mm



Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Stathern, Leicestershire, UK, in February 2005. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Such mounts are found on hanging bowls mainly in 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon princely or royal burials. They probably formed part of the so-called 'economy of prestige' in which decorative high-status tableware and feasting equipment circulated among the leading families of the various British and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. A number of these items have been found in 7th century burial mounds such as Sutton Hoo (Suffolk), Prittlewell (Essex) and Benty Grange (Derbyshire). The decoration and manufacturing techniques suggest an origin among the late Romano-British groups of western and northern Britain.