Copper-alloy, 8.94 grams, 57.18 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A finely moulded two-piece strap end od Middle Saxon date. The shank is a plain expanding bar with a second plate attached beneath by two pins, ending in a cast animal head with prominent triangular ears, ridged brow, lentoid eyes and clubbed snout; it grasps a cruciform finial in its jaws. Reference: Webster, L & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.98 fig.69n. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.