Silver-gilt, 0.73 grams, 19.86 mm. 8th century AD. The finial from an Anglo-Saxon silver pin, cast integrally with the shaft. Such beast-headed pins were an 8th century fashion, probably used by royal and noble ladies to fasten and adorn their headcoverings. The design is a bird in Insular Style, derived from manuscript art; indeed, the bird could almost have been taken from a page of the Lindisfarne Gospel. Reference: Webster, L & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.97. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, excavated over 50 years ago, findspot unknown.