Gold, garnet, glass, 5.23 grams/28.74 mm (buckle) 1.68 grams/13.88 mm (strap end). 4th-5th century AD. A finely-made belt set comprising the buckle and plate and the strap end, both with matching triangular garnet cloison decoration. The buckle comprises a circular carinated loop in dark red glass and a clubbed gold tongue with inset triangular panel at the forward end. The loop is held by two fine straps to the triangular plate which features a triangular garnet cloison with pierced lobes at the corners to accept the fixing pins. The strap end comprises a similar triangular garnet cloison with a D-shaped carrier plate pierced for the two gold attachment pins. The ensemble is very narrow (the strap end is about 12.4 mm at the base and the belt loop has an internal diameter of about 9 mm) which suggests that it was attached to a narrow belt or possibly the securing strap for a purse. Similar delicate buckles have been found in southern Russia and the Crimea, where they are associated with the Gothic presence in that area. Reference: cf. the miniature buckle from a grave-mound in southern Russia in Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.301 item I.9.10.4. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.