LOT 0297

'The Stathern' Anglo-Saxon Enamelled Bronze Hanging Bowl Mount with Millefiori Inlays

6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

1 1/2 in. (11.60 grams, 40 mm).

Discoid and hollow to the reverse with raised rim and suspension hook base; panel of seven La Tène spirals with an enamelled field, commas between, central raised ring with three equally spaced millefiori glass inlays; extremely rare.

Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Stathern, Leicestershire, UK, in February 2005.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Cf. MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E., A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, item 47.19, for type; Pollington, S., Mead Hall – Feasting in Anglo-Saxon England, Hockwold-cum-Wilton, 2003, for discussion; Pollington, S., Kerr, L. & Hammond, B., Wayland's Work: Anglo-Saxon Art, Myth & Material Culture from the 4th to 7th century, Ely, 2010, p.279-281.

Such mounts are found on hanging bowls mainly in 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon princely or royal burials. They probably formed part of the so-called 'economy of prestige' in which decorative high-status tableware and feasting equipment circulated among the leading families of the various British and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. A number of these items have been found in 7th century burial mounds such as Sutton Hoo (Suffolk), Prittlewell (Essex) and Benty Grange (Derbyshire). The decoration and manufacturing techniques suggest an origin among the late Romano-British groups of western and northern Britain.