Comprising: ellipsoid loop with hollowed underside, segmented at lateral edges; tongue with violin-shaped shield, waisted and curved over the forward edge of the loop; rectangular plate with applied sheet-gold cellwork and frame to the obverse, segmented along the edges, comprising a central gold lion-mask in a circular frame surrounded by a ring of cells with garnet cloisons and four radiating arms forming a cross also with garnet cloisons, field of larger cells with cloisons, inset malachite square inlay to each corner; four pierced attachment lugs to the reverse.

PROVENANCE:
From the collection of Adolphe Stoclet, 1871-1949.

PUBLISHED:
Georges A Salles and Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Adolphe Stoclet Collection (part I), Brussels, 1956, p.137 (d).

LITERATURE:
Cf. Menghin, W., The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007, item IX.3.2 (Badajoz, Spain); Heynowski, R., Bestimmungsbuch Archaeologie: Gürtel, Munich, 2017, type 8.4.

FOOTNOTES:
The buckle plate is large and impressive, while the loop is somewhat narrower and may have been replaced. Cruciform motifs on the buckle plate are a feature of Visigothic belt-sets at this time. The use of malachite is unusual for this period, but semi-precious stones of various types appear on such plates (e.g. Menghin, IX.1.1).