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LOT 1497
Saxon Iron Artefact Collection
CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/8 - 15 in. (708 grams total, 8.7-38 cm).
Comprising a straight cutting edge battle knife with a short tang; a shorter slender cutting edge battle knife with long tang; three small hunting knives; an iron ring and a possible javelin head. [6, No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK gallery, early 2000s.
LiteratureCf. Carver, M., Sutton Hoo, A Seventh-Century princely burial ground and its context, figs.94, 97, 103, 118, for similar knives.
FootnotesBattle knives are common in 6th -7th century Anglo-Saxon graves. They were, when not used, kept in their sheath and suspended from the belt by a detachable strap with a buckle.
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AUCTIONS:
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Large Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Mount
Circa 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Two adjoining pieces broadly rectangular in plan with a slight taper, two parallel rectangular recesses with guilloche in relief; remains of lugs to two edges. 17 grams total, 20-37 mm
Found Berkshire, UK. -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Of Hines's Group X with rectangular headplate featuring low-relief bird-heads and a raised piriform mask to each upper corner; shallow bow with raised ribs and a stud to the centre; triangular footplate with coiled horse-head lappets forming the shoulders, lateral lobes (one detached) with sheet-silver surface, inverted facing mask to the finial; remains of ferrous pin and catch to the reverse. 100 grams, 14.5 cm
Found near March, Cambridgeshire, UK, circa 2015.
A close match to the features of the March brooch is not recorded in Hines's corpus, but the very distinctive isosceles triangle footplate with sharp shoulders appears on the example from Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire (Hines's pl.33(b). The facing masks in the upper corners of the headplate also appear on an example from Driffield (Hines, 1997, pl.82(a). -
Late Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Enamelled Brooch with Cross
Circa 11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
With circular frame enclosing a cloisoné enamel cruciform design in shades of blue and white, six radiating lobes to the rim each with an enamel fill. 5.65 grams, 25 mm
Acquired 1990s. From an East Anglian private collection.