Copper-alloy, 14.79 grams, 34.62 mm. Circa 6th-7th century AD. A cast copper-alloy belt or strap buckle of kidney-shaped profile, formed with hollow underside. The tongue is made from a length of flat-section bar, looped around the rear of the buckle. The forward edge is provided with a couch for the tongue which curves over it. Buckles of this kind formed part of the customary dress for middle-ranking males and females in Merovingian Francia and south-east England. Reference: Nice, A. Revue Archéologique de Picardie. La Nécropole Mérovingienne de Goudelancourt-lès-Pierrepont (Aisne), Amiens, 2008 page 179 item S204. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Silver, 70 grams, 72.133 mm. Circa 5th century AD. A silver buckle comprising a hollow cast loop, plate and tongue. The loop is hollow, formed as a w-shaped shell with a couch for the tongue placed centrally, attached to the forward edge of the plate by a hinge. A small hoop is attached to the outer edge. The tongue is solid, D-section with the tip extending over the front edge of the loop, and a conical block to the rear. The plate is discoid, hollow and pierced by three dome-headed rivets, the middle one engaging with the plate's extension to the rear of the belt. Reference: cf. the silver belt-set from Borovoye, Lithuania, in Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007 item III.1.1.1. Very fine condition, complete. Provenance: from an old English collection.

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.

Copper-alloy, 38.41 grams, 47.84 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A buckle, plate and tongue of Merovingian Frankish style inset with two pairs of gem stones. The loop is formed as an elliptical round-section bar (about 6mm thick) narrowing on the rear edge to accommodate the tongue, a cast rod bent around the loop and formed over the leading edge. The plate is a sturdy rectangle with two strips on the leading edge retaining the loop and forming a triangular backplate which was clasped behind the belt with a fine rivet. The plate bears cloisonne decoration: two central rectangular panels of crystal between two elliptical panels of dark mineral. Two additional securing rivets were positioned on the upper and lower edges, of which one remains. Reference: Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period: Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007 p.344510 item VII.40.8. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 35.67 grams, 43.44 mm. 4th century. The Goths are first detectable in the Chernyakhov Culture of the Ukraine, successor to the earlier Wielbark Culture of the southern and eastern Baltic. This buckle, of eastern Baltic origin, shares features with examples from the Crimean Ostrogothic (East Gothic) culture where such loops are usually attached to an 'eagle-type' buckle plate; the hinge-bar is certainly wide enough to accommodate such a plate. However, its tongue has a transverse rectangular plate bearing ring-and-dot decoration at each end and a billeted border, which is reminiscent of the 6th c. Frankish 'shield-on-tongue' form of buckle. The oval loop is curved and widens at the outer edges, and is decorated with incised segmentation. An unusual and very interesting transitional form of Germanic belt-buckle in good overall condition, its tongue and the transverse bar fused to the loop. Reference: Menghin, W., Bertram, M. & Helwich, B. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, München, 2007, p.515 item VII.422 and cf. p.75 fig.4. Very fine condition. From an old English collection with old collection label. Found Livonia.

Silver, 8.83 grams, 32.63 mm. Circa 5th century AD. A silver buckle comprising a cast loop, plate and tongue. The loop is round-section and elliptical, its rear edge trapped by the sheet-silver elliptical plate. The tongue is D-section with the tip extending over the front edge of the loop, and a rectangular block at the rear. The plate is pierced by three dome-headed rivets, the middle one engaging with the plate's extension to the rear of the belt. Reference: cf. the silver belt-set from Borovoye, Lithuania, in Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007 item III.1.1.1. Very fine condition, complete. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 8.40 grams, 34.91 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A cast copper-alloy buckle tongue with curved tip to sit against the leading edge of the buckle loop. The rear features a block shaped like a violin, a stylistic feature of Merovingian style kidney-shaped buckles (Marzinzik's Type I.2) of the 6th century. The attachment loop on the rear is partly present. Reference: Marzinzik, S. Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (Late 5th to early 8th Centuries AD) - Their Classification and Context, BAR British Series 357, London, 2003 p.482. Fine condition. Provenance: found Norfolk, England.

Copper-alloy, 13.65 grams, 43.54 mm. 7th-8th century AD. An elliptical round-section buckle loop with flat-section tongue coiled around its rear edge; attached is an openwork plate with pierced attachment lugs on the reverse. The openwork sections are a central 'I' shape flanked by heart and trefoil shapes. Byzantine-style buckles are found across eastern Europe in the early medieval period, due to the spread of eastern Mediterranean clothing styles in the later Roman period. Reference: cf. Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007 item I.6.1, buckle from tomb 41, Eski-Kermen, Crimea, Ukraine. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Silver, 35.57 grams, 59.69 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A classic form of Merovingian period belt-buckle with discoid plate. The loop is formed as a dished hollow casting with two lobes flanking the couch for the tongue; the flat upper surface of each is pierced to accept a domed rivet, lost in antiquity. The loop articulates on the forward edge of the plate where the funnel-shaped tongue is attached; the tongue curves downwards over the leading edge of the loop. The plate is hollow cast, pierced by three equidistant dome-headed rivets; the leading edge of the plate develops a slotted strap which curves behind the plate to accept the rearmost rivet. Reference: cf. the buckle from grave 231(96) at Inzing (Bavaria) in Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.420 item VI.3.15.3. Very fine condition, stabilized and conserved, some loss to the rear sidewall. Provenance: from an old collection.

Silver, 40.19 grams, 60.68 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A classic form of Merovingian period belt-buckle with discoid plate. The loop is formed as a dished hollow casting with two lobes flanking the couch for the tongue; the flat upper surface of each is pierced to accept a domed rivet, lost in antiquity. The loop articulates on the forward edge of the plate where the funnel-shaped tongue is attached; the tongue curves downwards over the leading edge of the loop. The plate is hollow cast, pierced by three equidistant dome-headed rivets; the leading edge of the plate develops a slotted strap which curves behind the plate to accept the rearmost rivet. Traces of the leather strap remain within the plate's cavity. Reference: cf. the buckle from grave 231(96) at Inzing (Bavaria) in Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.420 item VI.3.15.3. Very fine condition, stabilized and conserved. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Silver, 13.40 grams, 37.39 mm. 6th-7th century AD. A buckle and plate of classic Merovingian style, found across the south-east of England. The loop is cast in thick silver, with D-shaped profile and sub-circular section, thinning on the sides and very narrow behind the plate. The plate is square and quite thick (about 1.5mm) on the outer face, reducing to about 0.5mm on the reverse. The plate is pierced by two silver rivets, which are still in place. The tongue was lost in antiquity, and there is a patch of wear on the loop which indicates where it was in contact. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.204-5 items 34.52, 53, 58. Very fine condition. Provenance: ex old English collection, found pre 1999. Lockdales Auction 76, lot 1151. This antiquity is accompanied by an XRF metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy, 15.13 grams, 39.98 mm. 6th century AD. A cast kidney-shaped buckle of dished profile, split beneath the loop. The loop is thickened, with a couch for the tongue and radiating ribbed texture. The tongue is carinated and carries a panel of ribbing at the base, with a longitudinal incision at the tip. Similar to a pair of buckles from the Barrington (Cambridge) cemetery. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.203 item 34.41. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old collection.

Copper-alloy, 40.45 grams, 43.89 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A cast D-profile buckle of early Anglo-Saxon type cast in a facetted round section loop. The tongue is cast as a D-section bar with spiral-wound attachment to the loop. At the base of the tongue is a raised quadrangular panel with incised cross-hatching. The buckle is very sturdy and could have been used to fasten a sword-belt. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British series 230, Oxford, 1993 item 34.43,44 and cf. Down, A. and Welch, M. Chichester Excavations vol.7: Apple Down and the Mardens, Chichester, 1990, p.62 fig.4. Very fine condition. Provenance: found near Braughing, Hertfordshire, England.