LOT 0324

Pre-Viking Silver-Gilt Mythical Beast Helmet Mount

CIRCA 5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.

1 5/8 in. (13.6 grams, 42 mm).

In the form of an equine creature modelled in the round with long beak and arched neck; panels of gilded Style I ornament to each lateral face, stepped band with punched detailing extending from the ears to the chest; rounded rump with pointillé detailing; hollow mounting socket to the underside.

Acquired early 1990s.
From an East Anglian private collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11895-204402.

Cf. PAS record NLM-219C93, for a similar item from Alborough, Yorkshire; possibly of Scandinavian manufacture, cf. gilded animal-brooch (wolf?) from the 5th c. Danish find at Engegårds jorder in Adamsen, C., Sort Muld, Bornholms Museum, 2008, p.62(1).

The socket on the underside suggests that the mount was placed prominently, perhaps on the crest of a helmet. Zoomorphic helmet mounts are known e.g. the boars on the Benty Grange and Wollaston examples, though these are not so detailed as the present example. The item is too small to be seen from afar but is ornate enough to attract attention at close quarters. Stylistically, the piece might have been made in southern Scandinavia or in an Anglian area of England in the later 5th or 6th century A.D.