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Details
LOT 0272
Saxon Gold Jewelled Necklace Element
6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (1.65 grams, 19 mm).
A gold ornament of discoid form with granulated border, central lozengiform cell with concave sides and turquoise-coloured enamel fill, semi-circular polished garnet cloison to each quarter, two ribbed suspension loops to the perimeter and two parallel tubular suspension loops to reverse.
Provenance
Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Literature
Cf. similar motif repeated on a Byzantine-inspired mount from Kudenetov, Russia, plate 17 in Adams, N., Rethinking the Sutton Hoo Shoulder-Clasps and Armour, in Entwistle, C. & Adams, N., Intelligible Beauty, Recent Research into Byzantine Jewellery, London, 2010.
Footnotes
The item clearly forms part of a necklace or bracelet secured by means of cords passing through the tubes on the reverse, and attached to its neighbours by links passing through the lateral hoops.
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