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LOT 0329
Superb Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
6TH CENTURY A.D.
5 1/2 in. (128 grams, 14 cm).
Of Hines's Group X with two discs on the headplate in a rectangular frame surrounded by a frieze of facing human masks, and another mask placed centrally above the junction with the bow; shallow bow with three ribs; curved horse-head lappets flanking a vertical shank with facing mask detailing, discoid lobes and an inverted mask below; pin-lugs to the reverse and solder-scar where the catchplate was attached.
ProvenanceFound near Grimsby, Humberside, UK, circa 2010.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11899-204377.
Cf. Hines, J., A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches, London, 1997, pl. 101(a); Franceschi, G., Jorn, A. & Magnus, B., Mennesker, Guder og Masker i Nordisk Jernalderkunst, vol.1, Borgen, 2005; Mortimer, P., Woden's Warriors - Warriors and warfare in 6th-7th century Northern Europe, Ely, 2011.
FootnotesThe brooch has many of the characteristics of Hines's Group X but also bears a strong resemblance to an unclassified example from Barrington A, Cambridgeshire (Hines, 1997, pl.101). The frieze of facing masks which forms the border to the headplate has echoes of contemporary motifs found on the headplate of the brooch from Fridaythorpe (Hines, 1997, pl.8(b)) and the crests of helmets such as Valsgarde mounds 5 and 7 (Sweden) - see Mortimer, 2011, p.32-35). The inverted mask on the finial echoes the 7th century shield-fitting from Vall, Gotland (Franceschi et al, 2005, pl.209). The significance of the mask motifs has been discussed in the cited works of Franceschi et al and Mortimer. A link to generations of deified ancestors is one possibility.
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LOT 0329
Superb Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,700
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Circa 8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
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From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
Thomas' Class A is the classic ‘long’ 9th-century strap end with animal-head terminal, often depicted in the Trewhiddle style. During the 9th century, for the first time in the Anglo-Saxon period, we see the adoption of what may be termed a 'national' artistic style - the Trewhiddle style - which has been recognised on objects from Anglo-Saxon England, from as far as Cornwall and Talnotrie, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. -
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8th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Broadly rectangular in plan with a stepped lower edge and hook, sub-rectangular void for attachment, decorative punched annulets. 0.78 grams, 23 mm
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