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LOT 1220
Saxon Period Iron Sceptre Head
8TH-10TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER
15 3/4 in. (1.1 kg, 40 cm).
Composed of a cylindrical body, lobed neck, bulbous collar to handle with splayed square-section finial and a crescentic arm to the other end.
ProvenanceAcquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
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AUCTIONS:
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Anglo-Saxon Tinned Bronze Openwork Horse Harness Mount
Late 5th-early 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Disc mount with four pierced lugs to the reverse, openwork design with four radiating U-shaped elements between the arms of a cross with T-shaped voids. 26.1 grams, 57 mm
Found Southern England. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection.
The 'zoned' layout of the piece strongly recalls some of the design elements in Kentish disc brooches, where the cells contain inlaid garnets, millefiori glass, meerschaum and other materials (see Arrhenius, B., Merovingian Garnet Jewellery, Stockholm, 1985, figs. 188-193). -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Chip-Carved Bronze Mount
Later 8th-9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
Irregular fragment from a bronze casket mount formed with four discoid panels each filled with dense regularly-displayed foliage and tendrils with lobe finials; central pierced disc with triquetra motifs in the spandrels; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 13.1 grams, 44 mm (50.4 grams total, 71 mm high including stand)
Found Saxmundham, Suffolk, in the 1980s. From the collection of Dirk Kennis, Belgium.
Details of the decoration recall later 8th century items, such as the lobed tendrils and triquetra motifs on the Franks Casket; the regular disposition of elements recalls a shrine mount from Peterborough (Hammond, 1.12-d) and disc-headed pins (Hammond, 1.10-g, h). Recorded, studied, and determined by the Secretary of State’s Expert Adviser as an object of cultural interest. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) considered an application to export this object. The Committee concluded that the object satisfied the third Waverley criterion and is therefore currently not exportable. -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Chip-Carved Buckle Frame with Garnets
Late 5th-early 7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £598
Marzinzik's Type I.6 rectangular loop with thick edges, recessed bar, leaf-shaped garnet to each angle, punched detailing to the carinated ridge. 8.38 grams, 33.8 mm
Found while searching with a metal detector near Micheldever, near Winchester, Hampshire, UK, on Sunday 17th March 2013. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.HAMP-A0905A.
Examples are found in southern and eastern England and date broadly from the sixth century (Marzinzik, 2003, 24-5, pl.16).