Copper-alloy, 11.83 grams, 42.74 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A small-long bow brooch comprising a rectangular headplate with expanding lateral extensions and rectangular upper extension. The facetted bow is carinated and bears a circular pad at its apex; it narrows noticeably to the footplate which is missing from below the catchplate on the reverse. The single pin-lug on the reverse is pierced and there are ferrous accretions on the back of the headplate from the pin. The form of the brooch is influenced by contemporary designs of cruciform brooch, but lacks the top- and side-knobs of the true cruciform type, and is unornamented. The pad on the bow imitates a similar feature found on some square-headed brooches from this period. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.97 item 12.4. Fine condition. Provenance: found Duston, Northamptonshire, England; reported to the PAS and documented under ref. NARC-EFCB45 [document included].

Copper-alloy, 20.11 grams, 66.51mm. 5th-6th century AD. A cruciform brooch with a square headplate surrounded by three waisted panels with punched roundel detailing. The headplate is cast flat with the surrounding panels, and its border is marked by double scored lines. The deep carinated bow is facetted at both ends. The footplate is decorated by a transverse ribbed collar above the expanding foot which is detailed with punched roundels on the outer edges. The pin lug on the reverse shows the corroded remains of the iron pin, and the catchplate is complete. Reference: cf. the Barrington example (with pelta-shaped plates) in MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.104 item 12.24; published in Murawski, P.G. Benet's Artefacts of England and the United Kingdom>Ely, 2003 p.254 item AO70120. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found Lincolnshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 19.63 grams, 72.86 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A classic form of cruciform brooch, the square headplate is flanked by quadrangular wings of similar dimesnions, with a third plate above, all decorated with punched semicircles on the extremities. The carinated bow is facetted at each end, extending to a long footplate with transverse ribbed panels. The finial is pelta-shaped with further punched decoration on the lower edge. The pin lug is intact on the reverse, with ferrous accretion from the pin, and the catchplate is complete. The brooch spans the transition from the early knobbed brooches to the flatter profile of the later types. Reference: cf. the Barrington A example (with top- and side-knobs) in MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.104 item 12.23. Superb extremely fine condition. Provenance: found Lincolnshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 6.96 grams, 62.41mm. 5th-6th century AD. An unusual form of cruciform brooch with a discoid headplate formed from a rectangular panel and D-shaped wings extending to thin collared knobs (with collar detailing on the reverse). The top-knob is replaced by a discoid lobe. The deep carinated bow is facetted at both ends extending to a lozengiform foot with a thin collared knob as the finial. The pin lug is in place on the reverse and the catchplate is mostly present. Among the unusual features of this brooch are the discoid top-knob, discoid headplate, atrophied side-knobs and pointed footplate; some of these features such as the D-shaped wings are found on cruciform brooches in the Norwegian tradition from the Oslofjord area. Reference: Bitner-Wróblewska, A., Between Scania and Samland - From Studies of Stylistic Links in the Baltic Basin during the Early Migration Period, in Fornvännen, vol.86, 1991. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found Lincolnshire, England.

Gilt copper-alloy, 13.85 grams, 22.76 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely-made D-section mount with interesting iconography. The outer surface shows a chip-carved human figure with details of the hand and head visible. The side panels feature beast-heads with exposed teeth and elongated bodies, surmounted by human faces. The upper surface is plain apart from a a D-shaped panel with a human mask. The surfaces are heavily gilded. The reverse bears a D-shaped block at the upper end and a smaller block with a recess (like a catchplate) at the lower. The iconography recalls the Tiermensch or 'beast-man' of Style I Germanic art, probably depicting animal transformation while in a state of trance. The piece appears to have been intended to slide on a strap or belt, and may have formed part of the 6th-7th century AD sword-harness or belt-set. Reference: cf. the decoration of the Icklingham belt-buckle in West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk, East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.169 fig.7. Provenance: found Herne Bay, Kent, England. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy, 9.41 grams, 35.25 mm. 5th-6th century. The finial from a high-status warriors sword chape, cast as a u-shaped fitting extending on the outer and inner faces of the chape. The lower portion of the fitting acts as a pad when the scabbard rests on the ground, the lowest point being formed as a discoid lobe on a D-section bar which extends before and behind the chape to an expanded attachment plate. The decorated plate is formed as a human male mask flanked by birds. The face is of a mature male with bilinear beard and moustache, with rectilinear nose and eyes. The hair is modelled combed back from the brow, as seen for example on the bronze shield fittings from Vimose (Denmark) and the male faces on the Sutton Hoo Mound 1 whetstone. The beard radiates from beneath the moustache to define the boundary between the D-section bar and the figure's arms, which are modelled as bird-heads with roundel eyes and beaks adjacent to the face's cheeks. The rivet holes are placed within the curves of the birds' necks. The beard, moustache and beaks are modelled as billeted or segmented lines and there are traces of radiating lines of punched dots on the birds' necks. The iconography of animal transformation is documented in Iron Age Germanic art with a human figure flanked by extremities with animal characteristics - most notably on the buckle from Aker (Norway). The motif of the stern male face between two birds must recall the representation of Woden (Norse Óðinn) with his two avian spies (Norse Huginn and Muninn) who report news to him. The association of the war-god's face with an item of military equipment evokes the mysteries surrounding membership of the Anglo-Saxon gedriht or troop of warriors dedicated to the god. References: Franceschi, G., Jorn, A. and Magnus, B. Mennesker, Guder og Masker in Nordisk Jernalderkunst, Band 1, Valby, 2005 pl.56, 70, 71; Campbell, J. The Anglo-Saxons,London, 1991 pl.69; Pollington, S. The English Warrior from Earliest Times Till 1066, Hockwold-cum-Wilton, 2001, p.50-7, 178. Good very fine condition, an historically important piece. Provenance: found near Burnham Market, Norfolk, England in 1976. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy, 37.27 grams, 82.28 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An elongated belt buckle with a rectangular loop, each corner bearing a ring-and-dot motif. The tongue is of the classic 'shield-on-tongue' design, its tongue slightly worn where the leather belt has abraded the surface. The shield bears four ring-and-dot motifs in an offset cruciform arrangement. The loop is cast in one with the plate, which is carinated in section and bears a v-shaped series of ring-and-dot designs, with further ring-and-dot infill at the wider end. Three attachment lugs on the reverse are pierced to take a length of thong to secure the buckle to its belt or strap. Reference: Reynal, R. La Vida a Egara durant el segle VI - Els Visigots a Catalunya, Barcelona, 1993. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 3.09 grams, 38.32 mm. Circa 9th century AD. A zoomorphic strap end with an extended snout bearing facial details, now abraded. The leaf-shaped body bears a central field with a stylized beast filled with niello in contorted pose. A segmented fan-shaped motif is placed above, below the two rivet holes. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923 p.107, fig.131(2) and compare the Trewhiddle Style beast motif in fig.120(3). Very fine condition.

Silver-gilt, 22.01 grams/21.45 grams, 81.71 mm/80.56 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An unusual pair of Merovingian bow brooches. The headplate is a discoid plate with cast, chip-carved decoration in the form of a pelta panel above a pair of everted scrolls. The knobs are D-shaped with collar detailing. The shallow bow is divided longitudinally into three segments: two thick outer ribs flanking a flat central panel bearing an inlaid guilloche design which extends the full length of the footplate. The outer ribs split and diverge into a fish-tail finial. Bow brooches with this split footplate finial are known from the Merovingian cemetery at Herpes (France) which shows strong stylistic links to early contemporary Anglo-Saxon metalwork. The catchplate and pin lug are complete on the reverse. Reference: the Herpes material in the Delamain Collection was purchased by the British Museum and published in Smith, A. The British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, London, 1923, pl.XIV. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection formed in the 1930's. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy, 36.68 grams, 73.05 mm. 5th-6th century AD. The headplate from a very large specimen of cruciform brooch. The rhomboid heaplate is flanked by two quadrilateral wings. The top-knob and side-knobs are cast in one with the plate as hemispheres with pronounced collars. Below the headplate is a facetted section which develops into the carinated bow. The spring attachment lug is present on the reverse. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.102 item 12.18. Restored from three pieces.

Copper-alloy, garnet; 6.67 grams, 27.15 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A delicate shield-on-tongue buckle suitable for the waist-belt of a noble lady. The loop is of the standard Merovingian elliptical shape; the slender tongue curves down towards the lower edge of the loop. The 'shield' is a single pelta-shaped garnet, its gold foil backing plate clearly visible through the translucent stone. The plate consists of a semicircular panel formed as a pair of addorsed boars, their heads arranged to coincide with the lower edge of the shield, and their forelegs placed within the 'D' void formed by their arching necks. Outside this plate there were three cabochon garnets in silver double collars joined by a line of billetted decoration. Three attachment pins are in place on the reverse. Reference: similar in design to Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.495 item VII.29. One garnet survives, otherwise in extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Kent.

Gilt Silver, 2.98 grams, 44.21 mm. 6th Century AD. A high-status silver-gilt pin of exceptional quality. The three-quarter side-view shows the thickness of the pin’s shaft and the defined ‘hip’ towards the end which would have helped the pin to stay in place. The thickness of the head, in the form of a circular disc, is also clear in this view. The top-view shows the head’s design – a field of gilded silver surrounded by a beaded filigree border, with beaded filigree trails spaced rhythmically around the field. The trails are two opposed u-shapes ending in coiled heads, with a further 6-shaped trail at the lower part and a S-shaped counterpart above. Pins of such richness are typical of early Christian religious sites, where the influence of royal ladies on clothing design was paramount. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.85 item 66(i) and (k). Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Extremely Fine condition. Ex. Bonhams; 13.10.2006, Lot 226.

Copper-alloy, 3.99 grams, 30.70 mm. Circa 6th century AD. This rectangular mount has a plain relief border enclosing a rectangular panel with rounded corners. The central motif is a pair of entwined serpents, their bodies formed in two parallel bands. The gilding remains on the panel and the mounting pins are in situ on the reverse. Reference: similar in overall design to the Icklingham mount. See West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.173 fig.56(1). Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 7.80 grams, 26.05 mm. 4th-5th century AD. Amphora strap ends are a late Roman military fashion, of which many examples are found in Britain. The present example is an evolved composite (two-plates) form comprising a rectangular plate with ring-and-dot decoration above a thick transverse bar. Below this is a central amphora motif between two circular openwork handles; the amphora also bears two ring-and-dot designs. The upper plate was broke in antiquity where the rivet holes entered. Reference: Appels, A. and Laycock, S. Roman Buckles and Military Fittings, Witham, 2007, p.257. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Tilbury, Essex, England.

Copper-alloy, 5.60 grams, 29.84 mm. The central field shows a rearing beast, its head bent back and its jaws opened to capture its tail. The design is reserved against the field, surrounded with two concentric annular ridges. There are traces of the iron pin on the reverse, but the lug is missing. Reference: West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.163 fig.46(2) and 8 and compare the coin motif at Abramson, T. Sceattas: An Illustrated Guide p.74, Series X, item X800. Very fine condition.

Silvered Copper-alloy, 3.73 grams, 19.36 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely moulded button brooch of Avent and Evison's Class Bi showing the classic male human mask with its helmet detail including the inverted chevron above the brow and the cheek-pieces framing the eyes and mouth. On the reverse the attachments points for the pin lug and catchplate are visible. The narrow rim is present for most of the circumference. Reference: Avent, R. and Evison, V.I. Anglo-Saxon Button Brooches in Archaeologia, vol. CVII, 1982. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Wiltshire, England.

Gilt copper-alloy, 15.41 grams, 33.31 mm. 6th century AD. A crisply moulded saucer brooch from the pre-Christian period. The brooch consists of a flat face-plate surrounded by a thick everted rim. The design comprises a central roundel with concentric ring decoration, within a panel of decoration consisting of two semicircular zoomorphs each placed with its hindleg attached to the face of its partner; the eye, thick surround, three-band body and legs folded both under and behind the body are typical of the disjointed arrangement of Style I motifs. The pin-lug and part of the catchplate are present on the reverse. The gilding remains across much of the surface. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.53 item 2.49. Good very fine condition. Provenance: found Cambridgeshire.

Copper-alloy, 3.19 grams, 16.96 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely-cast decorative mount which would have surmounted the boss of an Anglo-Saxon shield. The outer zone is sheet silver while the gilded central field is a series of five running scrolls similar to the customary pattern for a saucer brooch. Both the silver and gilding are almost intact. Reference: Dickinson, T. & Harke, H. Early Anglo-Saxon Shields in Archaeologia, vol.110, 1992. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Extremely fine condition.

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.

Copper-alloy, 3.31 grams, 30.95 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An Anglian wrist clasp of Hines's Form B14a, formed as a vertical bar with three lugs on the back edge, all pierced for attachment to the cuff of a female's shift. The vertical bar features two facetted rectangular panels decorated with transverse banding and punched triangular marks. The catchplate is still in place on the front plate. Wrist clasps were a long-lived fashion among Anglian women, used in pairs to close the cuffs of their long-sleeved shifts. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993, p.54. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Cambridgeshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 4.29 grams, 21.90 mm. 8th-10th century AD. A disc with raised edges and voided cross pattee design within which are fields of grey-green vitreous material, probably the enamel surface. The remains of the catchplate and spring are present on the reverse. Reference: Hattatt, R. Brooches of Antiquity, Oxford, 1987 p.315 item 1309. Good fine condition. Provenance: found Lincolnshire.

Silver, 1.24 grams, 26.53 mm. 5th-6th century AD. Scutiform disc pendants were worn by Anglo-Saxon women as part of their necklace assemblages; they are thought to symbolise the amuletic, protective properties of the male shield. This example has a finely-made hollow boss surrounded by five radiating cross-hatched triangular stamped panels and a series of punched pellets on the outer edge - all replicating the designs probably to be found on Anglo-Saxon warriors’ shields. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.162 items 25.5. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Edge nibble, otherwise very fine condition. Ex old English collection, property of a gentleman.

Glass, 8.51 grams, 24.45 mm. 5th-7th century AD. A glass bead made by the coiling method; the coloration is dark blue-black and the stratification is clearly visible. Reference: similar to beads found at Apple Down, Sussex, published in Down, A. & Welch, M. Chichester Excavations 7: Apple Down and The Mardens, Chichester, 1990, plate 40 item 16. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found on the Thames foreshore near the Globe Theatre.

Copper-alloy, 3.66 grams, 13.81 mm. 6th-7th century AD. An interesting form of pyramid, its sides decorated with a chip-carved and incised lozengiform network motif. The flat top is slightly dished. Sword pyramids are a short-lived fashion for slider-mounts used in suspending high-class scabbards from the belt. This example is very dainty with its slider-bar complete. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.216 item 36.26. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition. Found North Essex.

glass, 5.71 grams, 15.91 mm. 5th-7th century AD. A glass bead made by the coiling method; the coloration is dark blue-Green and the stratification in the glass provides a strong texture. Reference: similar to beads found at Apple Down, Sussex, published in Down, A. & Welch, M. Chichester Excavations 7: Apple Down and The Mardens, Chichester, 1990, plate 40 item 16. Very fine condition. Provenance: found on the Thames foreshore at the Tower of London.

Copper-alloy, 11.70 grams, 63.16 mm. Circa mid-late 5th century AD. A lozenge-shaped mount, pierced at each corner for a mounting pin, two of which are still present. The outer field is a ribbed border enclosing a field of fine punched s-scrolls. The inner field bears a design of four cast running spirals. Reference: the Late Roman Military Style running scroll design is similar to that of the Smithfield belt-buckle. See Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, London, 1923, p.9, fig.4. Very fine condition.

Gilded copper-alloy, 2.28 grams, 17.58 mm. 6th or early 7th century AD. The central stud from an Anglo-Saxon shield-boss, originally mounted on a short (2-3cm) shank at the apex of the boss. The design is a step-key pattern. Reference: Dickinson, T. & Härke, H. Early Anglo-Saxon Shields, Society of Antiquaries, London, 1992. Extremely fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 26.56 grams, 43.66 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A popular form of disc brooch, the overall design consists of five zones: an inner roundel with collar; a segmented zone of six keystones; a ribbed border zone; a segmented zone of ten keystones with ribbed interstitials; an outer three-ribbed border zone. The everted rim is substantially complete, the spring lug and catchplate are present on the reverse. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.49 item 2.33. Very fine condition. Ex an old American collection.

Copper-alloy, 19.87 grams, 28.69 mm. Circa late 5th- early 6th century AD. A rare matched pair of cast Anglo-Saxon saucer brooches with a finely executed central design consisting of five chip-carved running spirals formed as ridges. The outer edge of this field is formed with a similar annular ridge, extending to the dished rim. The central field consists of a further annular ridge enclosing a central pellet. The surface is gilded, much of which remains. The catchplates and lugs are intact and vestiges of the iron pins remain. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.44 item 2.8. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition. Ex the Lord McAlpine collection.

Copper-alloy, 2.80 grams, 29.01 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An Anglian wrist clasp of Hines's Form B14a, formed as a vertical bar with three lugs on the back edge, with perforations for attachment to the cuff of a female's shift. The bar features three plain raised panels and two rectangular panels between with transverse banded decoration. The hook is still substantially in place on the front plate. Wrist clasps were a long-lived fashion among Anglian women, used in pairs to close the cuffs of their long-sleeved shifts. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993, p.54. Fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Cambridgeshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 3.23 grams, 52.99 mm. 7th-9th century AD. An ornamental dress-pin surmounted by a hollow-cast spherical head decorated with applied filigree and granulated ornament in the form of circlets and knops. The pin has been deliberately bent over at the junction with the head. There are traces of silvering on the largest knop. Similar to the find from Bredfield, Suffolk. Reference: West, S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Material from Suffolk, East Anglian Archaeology, Ipswich, 1998, p.127 fig.3. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Cambridgeshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 9.98 grams, 132 mm. 7th-9th century AD. A good example of an Anglo-Saxon hipped pin cast in one piece with a slight bulb placed centrally on the pin. The polyhedral terminal sits above a small collar. Pellet punchmarks, now abraded, appears on some of the upper facets. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.98 item 69(m). Very fine condition, cleaned and conserved. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Cambridgeshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 9.10 grams, 23.41 mm. Circa 6th century AD. An unusual piece with its gilding almost perfectly preserved. The circular mount features a reserved concave lozenge, within which is a panel of banded zoomorphic Style I decoration. A small off-centre piercing indicates re-use in antiquity. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, London, 1923, p.30, fig 22. Very fine condition. Found Suffolk.

Copper-alloy, 55.52 grams, 61.56 mm diameter. 5th-7th century AD. An unusual example of a cast bifacial purse-ring fitting. The outer ring comprises alternating bulbs and ribbed collars. The central design comprises a triskele of zoomorphic head-and-neck elements with ring-and-dot eyes and punched pellet detailing along the necks and onto the sprues connecting to the outer ring. Fittings of this kind, with decoration on both sides, are often found in combination with the chatelaine or suspension chain; they are sometimes understood to have supported the closure of a cloth or leather bag. They are uncommon in England, but are found in Merovingian Period female graves among the Continental Alamanni and Bajuwaren. Reference: cf. similar openwork fittings published in Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.441 item VI.7.1.2 and p.443 item VI.7.2.6. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Norfolk.

Copper-alloy, gilded, 4.82 grams, 23.98 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely cast and gilded mount, possibly the central apex-stud of a 6th century shieldboss. The central reserved roundel extends into three expanding arms which meet the external rim-border. The three recessed panels feature a beaded upper and lower border enclosing an addorsed pair of billets and c-shaped motifs, probably derived from animal heads in Style I. Reference: similar layout to the Faversham keystone brooch, see Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, London, 1923, p.38, fig.33. Very fine condition. Ex property of the deceased estate of J S N Wright.

Gold, 1.22 grams, 13.35 mm. Circa 7th century AD. A very rare gold spacer bead with a ribbed detailed loop. These pendants where worn between glass beads as a spacer to set off the main pendant which would have hung in the centre, set with a coin or garnet. Ref: for similar pieces see British Museum Guide to Anglo Saxon Antiquities 1923 plate IV page 62/63. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very Fine condition. From an old English collection, purchased in the 1970's.

Copper-alloy, 8.73 grams, 37.78 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A sturdy Anglian wrist clasp hook plate of Hines's Form B20 with a thick (about 5mm) front edge and the plate is composed from perforated conjoined lugs behind the bar which is provided with three rectangular raised panels. The hook is complete. There is no applied decoration. Wrist clasps were a long-lived fashion among Anglian women, used in pairs to close the cuffs of their long-sleeved shifts. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993, p.64-5. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Cambridgeshire, England.

Iron, 320 grams, 336.71 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An exceptional Anglo-Saxon spearhead of series B2, similar to the example from Fairford (Gloucestershire), grave 2. It comprises a leaf-shaped blade with curved shoulders and a median ‘swelling’; the lateral edges of the blade taper sharply to a long, diamond-section point. The socketted shaft is long and tubular in section; two thirds along, the shaft extends into a facetted section which merges with the blade. Reference Swanton, M.J. The Spearheads of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements,Royal Archaeological Institute, London, 1973, series B2, p. 40. Rare and in extremely fine condition. Ex old English collection.

Silver, 2.72 grams, 21.53 mm. 8th century AD. The plate is decorated with a Trewhiddle Style foliate motif consisting of four cruciform lobes each with two lunulate panels; between these are four oval lobes with oval panels, with six pellets among them. The tag is made from two plates soldered along the centre and split at the upper edge where the three attachment points are pierced through the scalloped edge. Reference: West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.214 fig.20. Extremely fine condition. Property of a gentleman, believed to have been found in Hertfordshire in the early 1990's. This item is accompanied by a XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy, gilt, 5.61 grams, 21.09 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A beautiful gilt-bronze button brooch with an unusual geometric design derived from the standard motif of a helmetted human face. Avent & Evison have recorded and published the type, but leave it 'unclassified'. The greater part of the saucer flange is still present, as well as most of the catchplate; the corroded iron spring obscures the lug. Reference: Avent, R. & Evison, V.I. Anglo-Saxon Button Brooches, in Archaeologia, vol.CVII, 1982 fig. 19.1, 19.2. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 14.59 grams, 64.47 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A good example of a small-long brooch. The rectangular headplate bears two circular piercings close to the upper corners mirrored by right-angled indentations. The outer edges are decorated with a line of annular punchmarks. The bow is facetted at the ends and carinated. The footplate terminal is in the form of a long-muzzled animal-head emerging from a ribbed collar. The pin-lug and catchplate are present. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.135 item 15.43. Good fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 7.27 grams, 37.95 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An Anglian wrist clasp of Hines's Form B20, its plate pierced for attachment to the cuff of a female's shift. The plate has a serrated back edge of expanding profile, a vertical bar and three rectangular raised panels. The catchplate is complete and the perforation shows signs of wear; unusually, the perforation is placed in a plate extension running the full length of the clasp. The piece is undecorated. Wrist clasps were a long-lived fashion among Anglian women, used in pairs to close the cuffs of their long-sleeved shifts. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993, p.64-5. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Cambridgeshire, England.

Copper-alloy, 3.60 grams, 36.29 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An Anglian wrist clasp of Hines's Form B14a, formed as a vertical bar with three lugs on the back edge, all pierced for attachment to the cuff of a female's shift. The bar features three plain raised panels and two D-section rectangular panels decorated with transverse banding. The hook is still substantially in place on the front plate. Wrist clasps were a long-lived fashion among Anglian women, used in pairs to close the cuffs of their long-sleeved shifts. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993, p.54. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Cambridgeshire, England.

Gilt copper-alloy, 3.56 grams, 22.21 mm. 8th century AD. A Bifacial 'fantastic animal' chip-carved terminal from an 8th century dress pin. The copper-alloy casting has been heavily gilded and its eyes set with two garnets (or red-glass chips). Dr. Kevin Leahy of the PAS describes the item as 'deeply chip-carved', and the casting is very carefully executed to provide the maximum glitter and display. Pin terminals of this kind are an 8th century phenomenon which faded by the 9th century as public taste moved towards silver and niello jewellery. Reference: cf. Webster, L & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.96 fig.69f. Good very fine condition. Provenance: found in Nottinghamshire and accompanied by a PAS registration document initialled by Dr. Kevin Leahy.

Silver, 2.87 grams, 64.14 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A penannular bracelet, 1.6 mm at the thickest, quadrangular in section and twisted to gave a facetted surface for added sparkle. The terminal are finely pointed. A delicate and well-made ornament. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.167 item 26.11. Good very fine condition.

Silver-gilt, 24.99 grams, 74.72 mm. 6th century AD. A very large hollow-cast quadrangular buckle plate of a recognized Gothic design found across the Ukraine. The plate consists of concentric zones of decoration: a raised border with offset triangular punched detailing, outside a zone of roundels linked by inclined bars surrounding a further raised border with offset triangular punchmarks enclosing a central square void. (The void is probably original, although examples are known which held a glass or garnet cabochon.) On the back edge of the plate the outer raised border continues along a subtriangular neck to a dished bird-head with central punched roundel eye; on the lower edge a curved beak is placed. The neck is infilled with concentric panels. The ends of the extension straps which held the buckle loop are present on the front edge of the plate, pierced for rivets, one of which is still in place. There are five circular piercings for rivets to attach the plate to the belt. Reference: similar in design to Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.321 item I.33.6.1 and cf. items I.7.1, I.8.10, I.8.11, I.9.2, I.9.5, I.9.8.1, I.14.2 and I.18.1, I.33.6.1. Near extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found eastern Europe.

Copper-alloy, gilded, 5.33 grams, 24.65 mm. 6th-7th century AD. A copper-alloy disc with heavy gilding. The outer edge is irregular as if it had once had an outer rim or flange, but it is most probably a disc from the centre of a shield-boss. The central, circular setting originally held a cabochon garnet or glass hemisphere. From this setting radiate six Salin's Style I three-band body sections, with their three-toed legs folded beneath. An external raised double border completes the design. The reverse shows some signs of a central (soldered?) attachment point. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.53 item 2.53. Very fine condition. Found Newark.

Silver, 14.30 grams, 79.97 mm. 6th century AD. The item comprises an elliptcal headplate with chamfered edge, pierced to accept two rivets, of which one is still present. From the lower section emerges a tongue-shaped plate with chamfered edges, with three rectangular projections near the head. Reference: cf. Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007, p.408 item VI.3.2.7. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old European collection.

Copper-alloy and silver, 5.54 grams, 39.86 mm. Circa 9th to 10th century AD. A finely cast narrow copper-alloy strap end showing the origins of the type in zoomorphic ornamentation but bearing decoration on the tip which is reminiscent of the early Winchester Style with its fleshy plant-stems and addorsed creatures. The billeted lateral zones are heavily incised, flanking a silver panel decorated with s-scrolls. A subtriangular motif above bears v-shaped incised decoration. Two rivets remain in the holes, with remnants of the original leather strap or belt. Reference: Backhouse, J. Turner, D.H. & Webster, L. The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art 966-1066, London, 1984 p.85 fig.66m, p.95 no. 79 for details of the decoration and p.96 no.82. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 3.09 grams, 42.03 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A delicate strap end suitable for a narrow (approx. 8 mm) strap. The upper edge is slightly bifurcated above the paired rivet-holes, above a heater-shaped motif with inset chevron. The main body has slightly convex edges and a sub-rectangular panel within which lies a single Trewhiddle Style beast. Two square ears are placed above a subtriangular head with lateral vesica-shaped eyes terminating in a thickened muzzle. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.142 item 107(b) and cf. p.233 items 191-3. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Sheffield, England.

Silvered copper-alloy, 7.17 grams, 51.17 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A Middle Saxon convex-sided strap end, its display surface divided into three fields by a pall or Y-shaped reserved border. The upper edge bears two circular piercings to accept attachment rivets. The upper field features a Trewhiddle Style beast with a prominent looped tail above. The left field shows complex enmeshed tendrils, and the right a beast with an interlaced, serpentine body. Traces of niello inlay are present in the main fields. The piercings on the reverse are worn through. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923, p.107, fig.131(1). Very fine condition. Found Norfolk.

Silvered copper-alloy, 13.80, 13.42 grams; 39.91, 40.27 mm. An unusual matched pair of disc brooches. The field bears six concentric circles around a central piercing. The rim is serrated with v-shaped notches. The original gilding is still present in parts. The catchplates are both intact and traces of the iron pins remain. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.57 item 4.2 and p.68 item 4.64. Very fine condition. Found Gainsborough.

Copper-alloy, 26.10 grams, 71.85 mm. 5th century AD. An interesting hybrid form of cruciform brooch, showing the development of some common later characteristics. The headplate has three knobs, cast on but with a decorative collar moulded into the design. The side-knobs spring from flat plates, which developed from the lateral wings seen on some typologically earlier examples. The central headplate now forms a rectangular panel and the wings have merged with it to enlarge the headplate area. There is punched pellet decoration on the ‘panel’ and the headplate’s borders. The bow is unadorned and the footplate shows its animal-head origins only in the waisted central section with transverse ribbed banding. Two small lappets are placed below the junction with the bow. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.103 item 12.21. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition. Found Cambridgeshire.

Copper-alloy, 14.58 grams, 66.91 mm. 5th century AD. An early form of Anglian cruciform brooch with several interesting features. The rectangular headplate is formed as a single entity, without the normal lateral expanding wings, but a series of three parallel incisions on all four sides of the headplate gives the impression of a central rhomboid panel surrounded by extensions. There are three cast knobs emerging from the headplate, all with finely detailed collars. The shallow carinated bow has facetted ends and is decorated with vertical panelled detailing. The footplate is provided with transverse ribbed segmentation and a zoomorphic finial with incesed saltire detail between the prominent eyes. Part of the spring is in place on the reverse with the lugs and catchplate. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.99 item 12.9. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Wiltshire.

Copper-alloy, gilt; 3.47 grams, 39.29 mm. 6th-7th century AD. The mount is in the form of a bird of prey. The depiction is unusual in that the bird's body is formed as a single lentoid eye with the characteristic Germanic brow-ridge forming the neck and tail, while the lower surround sweeps round to become the extended wing. The beak develops from the junction of the brow-ridge and lower surround. The grasping claw is placed beneath the eye. The Anglo-Saxon god, Woden, after whom Wednesday is named, was considered to be one-eyed and to be able to adopt the form of a bird - characteristics shared with the later Norse Óðinn. The mount shares its animal form with several others known from Anglo-Saxon England - Bergh Apton, Spong Hill and Sutton Hoo - and probably evokes the amuletic qualities of the beasts portrayed. The two mounting lugs are present on the reverse. Reference: Stephenson, I.P. The Anglo-Saxon Shield, Stroud, 2002, p.104ff and cf. Nermann, B. Die Vendelzeit Gotlands im Auftrage der Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akadamien, Stockholm, 1969, plate 108 fig.916-7. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found Norfolk 2009.

Copper-alloy, 4.31 grams, 21.26 mm. Circa 6th-7th century AD. A short-lived fashion was for Anglo-Saxon shield-bosses to be surmounted by a short shank and flat decorative disc mount. The central field is surrounded by three ridges, with traces of beading. Much of the gilding is still present. Reference: Dickinson, T. & Härke, H. Early Anglo-Saxon Shields, Society of Antiquaries, London, 1992. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 3.37 grams, 27.39 mm. 5th-6th century AD. Anglo-Saxon disc brooches come in several varieties, of which the ‘pierced’ or ‘openwork’ type is of restricted distribution in the east Midlands. The most common form is the ‘swastika’ pattern with T-shaped piercings. The present example is the rarer subtriangular cut-out variant forming a reserved ‘expanding arm cross’ in the centre. Complete with the catch plate and the remains of the pin on the reverse. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous), Oxford, 1993 p.69. Found Lincolnshire.

Gilded copper-alloy, 4.73 grams, 23.42 mm. 9th-10th century AD. This delicate brooch’s surface is decorated with a series of roundels emerging from hexagonal bases. The gilding is present across most of the surface. On the reverse the pierced lug is still intact. Reference: West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.214 fig.96(2). Good very fine condition. Ex property of the deceased estate of J S N Wright.

Copper-alloy, 5.70 grams, diameter external 22.70 mm, internal 17.93 mm [UK size Q; US size 8.5]. A rather substantial example of a 6th century Anglo-Saxon finger ring. Formed as an ovoid section spiral band with overlapping terminals, the coils are very tight and firm. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.169 item 27.2; for coiled finger rings, see Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923 p.45. Very fine condition. Ex Nigel Mills’s collection.

Gilded copper-alloy, 24.95 grams, 38.69 mm. 6th century AD. The plain outer rim surrounds a thick, cast border which encloses the central decorative motif: a Style I “Tiermensch” or beast-man executed in the standard three-band ’basketwork’ technique. The V-shaped brow-band enclosing three transverse strokes for the cheek is visible at the 1 o’clock position above the central boss. Claw details can be seen at 4 o’clock and 9 o’clock. The face is heavily gilded. The hinge lugs show mineralized remains of the pin, and the catchplate is intact. Reference: compare MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.53-4 items 2.49, 2.54. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Extremely fine condition, very few of these in the books, and none in such nice condition. Ex Lord McAlpine collection.

Silver-gilt, 18.86 grams, 80.19 mm and 16.97 grams, 78.06 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A handsome pair of radiate-headed bow brooches in silver gilt. The headplate bears a chip-carved radiating maze or swastika pattern within a rectangular border on three sides decorated with offset opposed triangular punchmarks filled with niello. Discoid lobes surround the headplate, formed as a single moulding but segmented in deference to their original form as separately cast knobs. The bow is ribbed and has a broad central ridge with offset triangle (zigzag) decoration as on the headplate borders. The convex-sided footplate features borders of the same offset triangle decoration enclosing a vesica-shaped panel of chipcarved zigzag desgns. The fiial is in the form of an animal-head with prominent brow and muzzle and protruding eyes. The spring-lugs and catchplate are in place on the reverse. The finial is hollow-cast. Reference: cf. the bow-brooch from Herpes, France, in Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923, pl.XIV, item 11. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 12.09 grams, 59.23 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A neat example of the earlier type of cruciform brooch. The rhomboid headplate is flanked by lateral rectangular wings with rounded corners and small D-section extensions. The top-knob is cast in one with the headplate, D-section and sub-triangular in plan, with a ribbed collar. The wings each have an incised external border, against which are placed three crescentic punchmarks on each. The carinated bow springs from a facetted base and extends to a plain lozengiform footplate with an animal-head terminal. The catchplate is intact and the spring lug retains part of the iron pin. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, Oxford, 1993, p.97-8 items 12.4 and 12.5. Good very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 6.79 grams, 29.44 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An extremely rare cast rectangular strap-slider. The decorative scheme comprises a central series of roundels surrounded by a guilloche pattern, with arrow-shaped punchmarks in the notches of the guilloche – all executed by punching with a narrow, rectangular-sectioned stamp to give a ropework effect. The small scale of the piece and the neatness of its execution suggest that it came from a high-status sword scabbard. Reference: Menghin, W. Das Schwert im fruhen Mittelalter : chronologisch-typologische Untersuchungen zu Langschwertern aus germanischen Grabern des 5. bis 7. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., Stuttgart, 1983. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition.

Silver, 6.98 grams, 47.95 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A beautiful silver buckle with a large triangular plate, cast in one piece with a convex-sided buckle loop and two of the original three hemispherical rivet-heads. The tongue extends beyond the outer edge of the loop and has a rectangular ‘shield’ decoration. Reference: Marzinzik, S. Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (Late 5th to Early 8th Centuries AD) Their Classification and Context BAR British Series 357, Oxford, 2003, Plate 128 fig.3. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition. Ex an old European collection.

Copper-alloy, 5.28 grams, 23.76 mm. Circa 5th-6th century AD. The piece is the headplate and upper bow of a square-headed brooch with most of the gilding still present. The outer border is decorated with fine pellet punchmarks on all three edges. The bow features seven ribs, the central one thicker and wider. There is a plain panel on the hedplate within which is a recessed panel with a decorative rectangular border enclosing a chip-carved Style I Tiermensch (beast-man) motif. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.121 item 14.3. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition. Found Lincolnshire.

Gold, 1.82 grams, 10.52 mm, 5th-7th century AD. Gold in early Anglo-Saxon England was mostly derived by recycling and refining Roman coinage. For convenience it was cast into billets which could be handled and stored comfortably, and which allowed large amounts of wealth to be transported easily. Small gold billets formed part of the royal treasure found in the purse in the ship-burial in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. The present piece is a portion of a cast billet, with a maximum thickness of about 4 mm tapering to about 2.3 mm at the end where it has been clipped from the billet; perhaps from the same casting as item 016738 (?). Reference: Carver, M. Sutton Hoo: A Seventh Century Princely Burial Ground and its Context, Society of Antiquaries Report no.69, London, 2005, p.186. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Isle of Wight, disclaimed.

Gold, 4.98 grams, 21.37 mm, 5th-7th century AD. Gold in early Anglo-Saxon England was mostly derived by recycling and refining Roman coinage. For convenience it was cast into billets which could be comfortably handled and stored and which allowed large amounts of wealth to be transported easily. Small gold billets formed part of the royal treasure found in the purse in the ship-burial in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. The present piece is a portion of a cast slightly curved billet, with a maximum thickness of about 4.5 mm tapering to about 2.3 mm at the ends where it has been clipped from the billet. Reference: Carver, M. Sutton Hoo: A Seventh Century Princely Burial Ground and its Context, Society of Antiquaries Report no.69, London, 2005, p.186. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Isle of Wight, disclaimed.

Copper-alloy, 8.27 grams, 85.59 mm. 6th-7th century AD. The pin’s spherical head has a flattened top with a cast roundel decoration. More roundels are placed around the edge of the flat top, with further examples placed almost randomly around the spherical head. The circular-section shaft of the pin is straight with traces of the normal ‘hip’ or swelling found on Anglo-Saxon examples from this period. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.188 item 31.42. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 5.77 grams, 31.91 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A substantial Middle Saxon strap end. The body is not made from two plates soldered together (the normal Anglo-Saxon design) but from a single solid block cast with a bifurcation and central rivet-hole, with the rivet still in place. The finial is an animal-head with prominent ears and a rounded muzzle. Reference: the animal-head is similar to an example from Bamburgh castle, Northumberland, published in Webster, L & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.234 item 195. Very fine condition. Provenance: found Kent.

Silver Gilt with garnets, 148.13 mm, 90.00 grams. Early to mid-6th century AD. This is a Frankish-type radiate-headed bow brooch. The D-shaped headplate bears a series of chip-carved spiral motifs, within a heavy border from the outer edge of which emerge five circular-section undecorated lobes. The bow shows vestigial panels of similar spiral decoration, mostly lost to abrasion. The lozengiform footplate has a central panel bearing symmetrically arranged foliate scroll motifs. The outer edges are marked with a heavy, ridged border which loops around above the terminal to form a vestigial bird-head. From these edges emerge eight small lobes, each set with a cabochon garnet, the lower pair forming the eyes of the bird-heads. Below this is a broad, ribbed collar which becomes the neck of a zoomorphic face. A lentoid cabochon garnet forms the upper face of the terminal. There are remains of the pin-spring on the back of the headplate. Reference: similar to Rhineland examples from Andernach and Bonn, Germany - see Kühn, H. Die Germanischen Bügelfibeln der Völkerwanderungszeit in der Rheinprovinz (Bonn, 1940), Taf. 67: 6,3; 6,5; 6,6. Kühn's map is now superseded, but it still shows the general distribution of the type, mainly in the Rhineland, Upper Danube and northern French regions, including find spots in Anglo-Saxon contexts such as Howletts, Kent. Similar to PAS 2002, 35 Boxford, Berkshire: white metal radiate-headed brooch fragment (2001 T1) (fig.35). Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Extremely fine condition. Ex a European collection via the estate of an old English collector. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Gold, 1.37 grams, 19.58 mm. 6th-7th century AD. Bullæ are small gold pendants formed from two hemispheres with a broad suspension loop. This is a good example of the type. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, London, 1923, plate IV. Very fine condition. Found Little Waltham, Essex in the late 1960's. Ex Phil Goodwin. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

silver-gilt, 9.89 grams, 30.11 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A crisply cast hollow pyramidal strap-distributor of Middle Saxon date. The domed central section consists of four keystone-shaped panels with scrolled infill, gilded, set between rectangular columns with decoration of offset triangles filled with niello, some of which remains, to form a silvery zigzag on a glossy black background. The circular flange is decorated with a running guilloche motif, pierced in four places for attachment rivets. The dome is surmounted by a silver collar which would have accommodated a disc of bone or other organic material; the inset circle is also pierced; the flange partly hammered. Reference: West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk, East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.4 item 2.1 and p.118 fig.2. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found over 50 years ago, findspot unknown.

Copper-alloy, 7.60 grams, 35.03 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely-moulded male (i.e. hooked) wrist-clasp, its hooked element partly missing, of Hines ‘s Class ‘B’. One of the outer pierced attachment lugs is complete. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.181 item 29.35. Very fine condition.

Gilded copper-alloy, 7.56 grams, 40.46 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely-moulded male (i.e. hooked) wrist-clasp, its hooked element still intact, of Hines ‘s Class ‘B’. The outer pierced section includes attachment lugs, one of which is complete. The gilding is present on most of the surface. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.181 item 29.35. Good very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 15.49 grams, 50.95 mm. 6th century AD. This mount was originally the terminal from the footplate of a great-square-headed brooch which has been fractured in antiquity and pierced for re-use. This was a fairly common practice with decorative elements from Anglo-Saxon brooches. Reference: Lakenheath find in West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.224 fig.106(5). Very fine condition.

Silver, 1.17 grams, 21.65 mm. Circa late 6th - early 7th century AD. A silver strap end, tongue-shaped with a rectangular upper zone bearing transverse banding and a billeted upper edge. The lower zone features a single angular, gold chip carved linear ridge running in an elongated u-shape from the lower edge of the upper field. The original single fastening rivet is still in place. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.209 item 35.7. Very fine condition. Ex old English collection.

Copper-alloy, 12.67 grams, 39.89 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A finely-made example of a small-long brooch. The rectangular headplate bears two circular piercings close to the upper edged, mirrored by semicircular indentations on the lower edge. The outer edges are decorated with a line of small crescentic punchmarks. The bow is facetted at the ends. The footplate is in three zones, the central one carinated and the lower bearing crescentic punched decoration on the outer edges. The pin-lug and catchplate are present. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.135 item 15.43. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 12.08 grams, 59.63 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A neatly made form of cruciform brooch. The trapezoidal headplate is flanked by two lateral plates with tiny knobbed extensions, and a conical collared knob emerges from the upper edge of the headplate. The plates are decorated with punched concentric semicircles. The facetted bow extends into a lozengiform footplate with animal-head terminal. This brooch is curious in combining the segmented headplate of the cruciform brooch with the lozengiform footplate of the small-long brooch; the presence of the cruciform’s knobs points to an origin in that class. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.99 item 12.10 and cf. p.127 item 15.8. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 19.80 grams, 90.06 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A good large example of an Anglian cruciform brooch, worn on the chest to fasten the outer garments. The trapezoidal headplate is flanked by lateral wings, decorated with opposed-chevron punchmarks on the wings and roundels on the headplate. The carinated bow is facetted at both ends. The footplate is segmented with transverse collars extending to an animal-head finial. The catchplate and spring lug are in place on the reverse. The brooch is unusual in featuring a standard zoomorphic head rather than the normal horse-head. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.101 item 12.14. Very fine condition, some damage to the headplate. Provenance: from an old English collection, found East Anglia.

Copper-alloy, 2.61 grams, 15.83 mm. 6th century AD. A good Class Eiii cast button brooch with moulded facial features including the eyes, lips, nasal and helmet details. The face is surrounded by a shallow ridge; the outer flange is almost entirely absent. The lug and catchplate are no longer present but their attachment points can be clearly seen on the reverse. Reference: Avent, R. & Evison, V.I. Anglo-Saxon Button Brooches, in Archaeologia, vol.CVII, 1982. Fine condition.

Copper-alloy, gilt; 8.48 grams, 31.90 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A beautiful example of a Saxon saucer brooch used to pin the shoulders of a peplos dress. The central roundel is constrained into a pentagonal form by the five beaded running spirals surrounding it. Between the spirals are moulded roundels; a beaded rim surrounds the design. The angular rim is missing. The surface is heavily gilded. The catchplate and spring lug are present on the reverse. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.44 items 2.7,8. Good very fine condition, would benefit from a further clean. Provenance: found Cambridgeshire.

Copper-alloy, 30.24 grams, 117.02 mm. 6th century AD. A finely made great square-headed brooch of Hines's Group XV with some unusual features. The slightly trapezoidal headplate is divided into two fields, each surrounded by a thick, plain border. The outer field features a pair of opposed beasts executed in Salin's Style I with three-band body elements. The inner field is divided into three rectangular designs: the central one is a square with an incised saltire, flanked by two hooked-cross designs with spiral finials. The outer edges of the headplate have narrow extension strips, that on the upper edge decorated with a row of crescentic punchmarks. At each upper corner is a stylized bird-head with pelleted brow-band, pellet eye and coiled beak below. The shallow bow features median and lateral ribs, extending to an elaborate footplate with curved animal-head extensions above a cruciform footplate with a thick border showing signs of the same crescentic punchmarks as on the headplate. The lateral 'wings' terminate in stylized animal-heads with transverse bars bearings crescentic punchmarks. The central lozenge bears two coiled S-shaped features which mimic the coiled hooked-crosses on the headplate. The terminal is an evolved human face extending to the finial: a transverse bar with opposed rows of crescentic punchmarks. The surface of the brooch has been gilded, of which a significant amount remains. The catchplate is in place on the reverse. The spring mechanism is combined with an ancient repair consisting of an iron plate riveted to the obverse behind the lower headplate and the bow; the rivet-heads can be seen on the obverse - one above the left side of the bow, two on the left side of the bow and one more either side of the bow on the rejoined footplate. Reference: Hines, J. A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches, London, 1997 p.111ff and pl.47a. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old Austrian collection, found East Anglia.

Copper-alloy, 11.05 grams, 46.48 mm. Late 5th-6th century AD. A good example of an early Anglo-Saxon annular brooch, this one is unusual in having the hoop overlapped by 16.8 mm and pierced for the pin (not present). A second ovoid piercing is near the outer edge of the upper level of the overlap. The inner and outer edges are punched with pellet motifs. Reference: West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.142 fig.26(2) and MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.86 item 10.23. Very fine condition. Ex property of a gentleman, found Hertfordshire.

Silver-gilt, 7.50 grams, 38.63 mm. Late 6th to early 7th century AD. A beautiful example of the classic S-Fibel found across the Germanic world in the 6th and 7th centuries. The curves of the 's' are tightly formed. The central cloison is a rectangle of red garnet or glass on the body, with trianular panels on the curve of the neck and circular panels for the eyes. Chip-carved geometric forms are placed between the cloisons and a raised border extends along the outer edges from one eye to the other, extending to form the two beaks. The catchplate and two spring lugs are in place on the reverse. The gilding is still visible on much of the surface. Reference: similar in design to Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.419 item VI.3.14.1. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Continental Europe.

Copper-alloy, 9.06 grams, 79.97 mm. 5th century AD. A classic Vizigothic design, the radiate-headed bow brooch features a large D-shaped headplate decoared with three ring-and-dot roundels and a border of radially linear punchmarks. The plain, carinated bow is deep, extending to a lozengiform footplate bearing two more roundels and a radial punched border. Two small quadrangular extensions at the widest part of the footplate complete the design. The catchplate, sprig and pin are intact and in situ. Reference: similar to Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, p.566 item IX.1.1 and cf. p.567 item IX.2.1. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection, found Continental Europe.

Copper-alloy, 1.68 grams, 29.79 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A very fine and delicate strap end suitable for a narrow (approx. 7.5 mm) strap. The upper edge is slightly bifurcated above the single rivet-hole. The main body has convex, slightly corrugated edges and a rectangular panel within. Two square ‘ears’ are placed above a subtriangular head terminating in a thickened muzzle. The layout and design are similar to the Whitby strap end, but miniaturized. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.142 item 107(b) and cf. p.233 items 191-3. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 2.03 grams, 20.15 mm. 10th-11th century. A finger-ring formed from thick (1mm+) copper-alloy sheet cut as a broad central section and narrowing ends. The widest section bears two ring-and-dot designs aligned vertically, with two more to one side and three to the other. Between the ring-and-dot motifs are series of elongated incised marks forming a border. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.170-2 items 27.6, 27.8. Provenance: found Suffolk. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 15.70 grams, 95.77 mm. 5th-6th century AD. Girdle hangers are a decorative item from the costume of early Anglian women; most are too delicate to have been used regularly, and it is believed that they may be 'symbolic keys' showing the woman's place as controller of the household. The piece is a good example of the evolved type of girdle hanger: a straight T-shaped bar with swept-back wings which are joined to the bar by short connectors , ad with scrolled finials which imitate the bird-head detailing on cruciform and other brooches. The upper section of the bar thickens to accept a lateral piercing for suspension; below this is a section of transverse ribbing moulded to resemble an inverted horse-head, another feature drawn from contemporary brooch design. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.230-1 items 42.7,8. Fine condition, some restoration to the bar. Provenance: from an old English collection, found East Anglia.

Silver, 4.43 grams, 30.63 mm. Circa 10th century AD. A beautiful silver cross consisting of a large central disc with four arms branching out each terminating with a round terminal. The central disc on each side is engraved with AG on one side and LA on the other, the top of the cross has a large suspension loop. Ref: Benet’s Artefacts of England & the United Kingdom, page 273. Very fine condition. Ex old English collection, found in the 1970's.

Copper-alloy, 2.38 grams, 23.22 mm. Circa 6th-7th century AD. Triangular buckles are a later 6th century fashion which was adopted for high-status belt-sets in Anglo-Saxon England. The profile resembles Typegroup II,23. This example is small and cast in one piece, with a separate loop inserted through a cast void. On the reverse are three attachment points. It was probably used for closing shoes, securing a bag or tightening leggings. Reference: Marzinzik, S. Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (Late 5th to Early 8th Centuries A.D.). Their Classification and Context BAR British Series 357, Oxford, 2003, pl.150 &157. Very fine condition.

Copper alloy, 7.37 grams, 47.65 mm. Circa 11th century AD. Rotating latch keys were introduced towards the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, replacing latch-lifters and other security devices based on displacing the internal springs of a padlock. Most of these items were probably used on chests and cupboards rather than house-doors at this time. The body of the key is a solid elliptical casting similar to a number of pierced examples from the later Anglo-Saxon period. There is a cast suspension loop at the lower end. The plain shank is shaped to accommodate the internal mechanism of the lock. Reference: West, S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Material from Suffolk, East Anglian Archaeology84, Ipswich, 1998, p.122 fig.58 and cf. The late 12th c. example from King John’s House, Tollard Royal in London Museum Medieval Catalogue 1940 reprinted Ipswich, 1993, p.145 fig.1. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 7.58 grams, 39.39 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A copper-alloy chip carved ‘male’ hooked clasp retaining a portion of the original gilded surface. The outer zone is plain, with two piercings (one complete) for attachment to the garment’s sleeve. The decorative panel contains a bilinear border within which are two rectangular billeted zones between four s-scrolls, all cast in and gilded. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. , Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993. Good fine condition.

Gilded copper-alloy, 1.48 grams, 19.47 mm. Early 7th century AD. The flared trapezoidal mount features linear zoomorphic decoration in Salin’s Style II within a ribbed border. Pelta mounts are characteristic if late 6th and early 7th bridle furniture, for example the finds from Mound 17 (the horse-and-rider burial) at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. Reference: Carver, M. Sutton Hoo. A Seventh-Century Princely Burial Ground and its Context Report of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London, no.69, 2005 p.229 fig.112 item 25cii. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 3.60 grams, 28.82 mm. 5th-6th century AD. The pendant is fashioned in the style of the Scandinavian and Anglian bracteates, as a circular flan with a beaded rim and ribbed suspension loop. The central design features a bearded male with outstretched arms and expanding body. The arms are decorated with a row of beading, expanding at the outer edges into v-shaped hands. Below each arm is a triangular flap with a pellet beneath. The figure's right hand is placed by a vertical rod which extends to head-height and ends in a vertical beaded section. Above the left arm is a single punched roundel. The figure's pose is reminiscent of the 'dancing warriors' on the frontal plates of the Sutton Hoo helmet, with the vertical rod representing a spear. Reference: Hedeager, L. Myth and Art: A Passport to Political Authority in Scandinavia during the Migration Period in The Making of Kingdoms: Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, vol.10, Oxford, 1999 and Franceschi, G., Jorn, A. & Magnus, B. Mennesker, Guder og Masker i Nordisk Jernalderkunst, Valby, 2005. Edge nibbled, otherwise good very fine condition.

An entire early Anglian female grave-group from County Durham, fully reported and documented under Portable Antiquities Scheme reference NCL-4ABB77. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. The group comprises: (1) Cruciform brooch, copper-alloy, 83.66 grams, 136.37 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A substantial cruciform brooch with trapezoidal headplate flanked by expanding wings with collared D-section lobes; the top-knob is similar in form but larger, with punched double-contour triangles across the finial bar. The headplate's borders bear similar punched decoration. The shallow bow has facetted ends, a medial carination and a central rectangular panel. The footplate develops from this into a plain panel with lateral lappets bearing involuted scroll decoration forming a profile eagle-head. Below this is a transverse collar which develops into a horse-head finial with pronounced lobed eyes and discoid nostril detail. The catchplate and lugs on the reverse are intact, with ferrous remains of the original pin. (2) Pair of annular brooches, copper-alloy, 12.48 grams / 7.18 grams, 47.65 mm dia./ 41.67 mm dia. 5th-6th century AD. A pair of brooches, but not matched in size or decoration. The larger has four bands of transverse multilinear ornament with the interstitial panels bordered with double rows of punched dot detailing; its pin-slot is filled with a ferrous concretion, the remains of the pin. The smaller has four transverse bands of bilinear decoration, with two central rows of punched dot ornament between; the brooch narrows to accommodate a ferrous pin (lost in antiquity) and is cracked across this point. (3) Two matched pairs of wrist-clasps, copper-alloy, 8.05 grams / 7.48 grams, 34.53 mm / 34.00 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A full set of wrist-clasps of Hines's Form B20 comprising transverse bars, with conjoined lugs behind and lobed back edges. Detailing takes the form of small concentric roundels on the bars and larger ones on the lugs. The grave-group is typical of those associated with good-quality Anglian female graves from the later 5th century and into the later 6th, with such emphatic markers of ethnicity as the cruciform brooch for the outer cloak or shawl, and the wrist-clasps for the shift or underdress. A peplos overdress would have been gathered at the shoulders and secured by the pair of annular brooches. The cruciform brooch resembles that from grave 96 at Morningthorpe, Norfolk, found with wrist-clasps of Form B19. References: Hines, J. Clasps, Hektespenner, Agraffen, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akadamien, Stockholm, 1993, p.64ff; MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.87 item 10.27 and p.103 item 12.21. An extremely fine group, a rarity to have the complete assemblage outside of a museum.

Copper-alloy, garnet and gold; 3.03 grams, 15.30 mm. 6th-7th century AD. Sword pyramids were a short-lived fashion in slider-mounts, used for suspending high-class scabbards from the belt. The present example is contructed as four conjoined rhomboids with a flat rectangular top. Each face features a sub-triangular setting in each corner, with four quadrangular settings between. The quadrangular settings contained garnets, of which twelve remain; interestingly on one face the missing garnets reveal stamped gold foils which were added to very high-status items in order to impart additional reflectiveness to the overlying garnets. The sub-triangular settings probably contained organic material of which traces remain - bone, shell or possibly even meerschaum - with a shiny, opaque, creamy-white surface which contrasted with the sparkling red stones. The top features a rectangular depression which may have held a further garnet. The pyramid is cast hollow and the suspension/slider bar on the reverse is complete. While sword pyramids are not uncommon, examples with foil-backed garnets are rare and indicate that the owner was of very high status. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.216 item 36.26. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Very fine condition. Found near Snettisham, Norfolk 2009.

Copper-alloy, 7.35 grams, 9.25 grams; 56.37 mm, 57.28 mm. Mid 6th century AD. A matched pair of Anglo-Saxon annular brooches. One has had an ancient repair, with the brooch’s band being overlapped and drilled to take an attachment pin. The other has been reconstructed, due to a small piece having been lost in antiquity. Both brooches have inner and outer series of punched pellet decoration and vestiges of their iron pins. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.84 items 10.9, 10.11. Very fine condition. Found Lincolnshire.

Silver and copper-alloy, 6.60 grams, 35.90 mm. 6th-7th century. The brooch consists of a silvered copper-alloy backplate with catchplate and lug for the missing iron pin, to which is soldered the repoussé silver faceplate. The design is a Salin's Style II composition of four zoomorphs with three-strand bodies (a Style I feature), ring-and-dot eyes, quadrangular jaws, pelletted hips and three-toed feet with recurved hind claw, all drawn together in a four-way knot. A raised pelletted border completes the design. This item is discussed at length in Hattatt (1989), who considered it likely that the faceplate was originally a silver D-bracteate from Kent, although the brooch was discovered in the Wansdyke area of Wiltshire. This remains the most likely interpretation, yet the plate is rather large for a standard form of Anglo-Saxon bracteate; Style II animals are otherwise unknown on composite disc brooches. An important and unusual item which poses many questions for the history of Germanic art in Britain, the use and re-use of bracteates and the sources of faceplates for composite disc brooches. Reference: Hattatt, R. Ancient Brooches and Artefacts, Oxford, 1989, p.214-5 item 1689. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Good very fine, exceptional preservation for the type. Ex the Hattatt Collection.

Gilt copper-alloy, 4.80 grams, 33.69 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A zoomorphic chip carved mount with ribbed detailing on opposed s-scroll motifs, the outer ends becoming stylized, inward-looking animal heads and the central portion surmounted by two pellets within circular cells. The mounting pin is still present, as is most of the gilding. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, London, 1923, p.82, fig.95. Very fine condition.

Silver, 3.40 grams, 55.86 mm. Circa 7th century AD. A sturdy silver pin with a spherical terminal. The shaft is still straight and retains its point. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series,230, Oxford, 1993, p.186 item 31.8. Extremely Fine condition. Ex. Old English Collection, via a Norfolk country Auction.

Copper-alloy, 5.37 grams, diameter external 22.70 mm, internal 18.54 mm [UK size Q1/2; US size 8 1/2; European size 18.40]. Circa 6th century AD. A beautiful ring made from a single ovoid section band of copper-alloy, wound so that the finger is enclosed by three bands, each with a convex surface with a slight carination for decorative effect. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.169 items 27.1 & 27.12; for coiled finger rings, see Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923 p.45. Very fine condition.

Gold & garnet, 4.39 grams, 31.25 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A beautiful example of the goldsmith's art. The gold disc is edged with a ribbed border and an inner circular ropework band which develops into an equal-armed cross with a central rosette surrounding a cloison setting for a cabochon stone, probably a garnet. The junctions of the ropework bands are covered with gold discs (about 1.5mm diameter). The quarters are embellished with granulation (less than 1mm diameter). The loop is of the standard three-rib form for bracteates and other high-status gold jewellery of the period, influenced by both Scandinavian and Frankish design. The piece is in the same tradition as the highest-quality jewellery found in the Kentish and East Anglian barrowfields. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.51-3 item 33(b). Very fine condition. Ex an old collection, found Continental Europe. An XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd accompanies the piece.

Copper-alloy, 4.11 grams, 24.21 mm. 10th-11th century AD. A beautifully-made late Anglo-Saxon buckle loop, slightly dished in profile, showing Scandinavian influence in the execution of the zoomorphs. The round-section bar is held between two drooping animal-heads with bulbous, ovoid eyes and c-scroll ears. A ribbed central collar forms the rest for the tongue. Reference: Backhouse, J. Turner, D.H. & Webster, L. The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art 966-1066, London, 1984, item 97. Very fine condition.

Copper alloy, 4.85 grams; 38.20 mm. Circa 6th-7th century AD. This unusual wrist-clasp is executed in an openwork style which is a rarity on this class of artefacts. The inner bar bears transverse billeted designs, while the outer zone is moulded in the form of two birds’ heads, their eyes indicated by ring-and-dot detailing and their open beaks connecting to a section comprising two discoid terminals with punched pellet decoration attached to a median bar. Reference: Hines, J. Clasps-Hektespenner-Agraffen: Anglo-Scandinavian Clasps of the Third to Sixth Centuries AD. Typology, Diffusion and Function. , Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 1993. Good fine condition.

Iron, 745 grams, 97.7 cm long. 7th century AD. A spatha or long, slashing sword of early mediaeval type. The blade is made from multiple iron billets, forge-welded longitudinally. The blade is a shallow diamond section, 38.7 mm broad at the hilt (16.9 mm at a locations about 1 cm above the point) with very little distal taper (7.47 mm at the hilt, 3.73 mm at a locaton about 1 cm above the point). The lower guard (15.45 mm thick, 58.9 mm across, 26.2 mm wide) is formed as two addorsed D-shaped lobes joined in a single deep curve on the upper surface and with a double-curve on the lower edge. A decorative panel on the outer face features areas of gilding which follows the outer edge of the panel, and a single cabochon setting for a jewel (commonly garnet or richly-coloured glass) which is no longer present. The tapering 118 mm long tang is pierced by a rivet which attached the organic hilt components (lost in antiquity). The profile and decoration of the sword is consistent with a 7th century AD date. The sword is a very finely-made and graceful weapon typical of the Avar horse-warriors of Late Antiquity; its long blade is perfect for slashing from a moving mount and its light, slender construction makes it ideal for prolonged use. Reference: Nicolle, D. Attila and the Nomad Hordes, Oxford, 1990, p.48 item F. Very fine condition, fully stabilized and conserved. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy, 21.67 grams, 48.20 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An unusual example of an early Anglo-Saxon sub-triangular pommel cap. The piece is cast hollow (as is normal for these items), and is open at the two upper edges. The triangular side-walls emerge form an elliptical base with a slightly dished underside. Traces of punched roundel decoration are visible centrally on the lower outer faces. Reference: Ellis Davidson, H.R. The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England, Woodbridge, 1994. pl.VIII no.53. Very fine condition. Ex an old American collection.

Copper-alloy, 6.27 grams, 27.61 mm. 10th-11th century. A finely-cast copper-alloy mount bearing ornamental Winchester-style decoration with six piercings in a symmetrical openwork design. A small lozenge is the central motif. The layout suggests an animal’s head seen from above, or even the man-between-beasts motif found on earlier Anglo-Saxon metalwork. There are no attachment points on the reverse, implying that the mount may have been sewn in position through one or more of the piercings. Reference: Webster, L & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.96 fig.81. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 2.44 grams, 23.40 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A sub-triangular mount with a thickened border enclosing a tongue-shaped panel. A fine, moulded border runs parallel to the panel’s edges, containing a zoomorph comprising a characteristic curved beak and brow below a simple rope-twist body. The gilding remains on the central panel and the mounting pins are present on the reverse. Reference: similar to details of the headplate decoration of the Ipswich great square-headed brooch. See West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998 p.179 fig.61(1). Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 37.67 grams, 43.93 mm. 6th-7th century AD. A large flat cast plate with a pronounced external ridge containing a panel of Salin's Style II zoomorphic interlace decoration formed as four reptilian heads wth prominent roundel eyes emerging from a central four-way knot motif. The bodies are formed as three-band ribbons. Stylistically the piece belongs to the same cultural milieu as the material from Mounds 1, 2 and 17 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. The gilding is still present across much of the surface. There are four attachment lugs on the reverse, of which three are in perfect condition. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.239 item 47.3. Extremely fine condition. Found Nottinghamshire.

Copper-alloy, 3.40 grams, 25.25 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A T-shaped mount with a pierced mounting lug on the reverse. The horizontal bar bears a penel of rhythmic interlace, its central trefoil extending into the vertical which narrows to form a neck with evolved animal-head terminal. The mount is probably one of the cover fittings from an Anglo-Saxon book. Reference: cf. decoration on the Wye pendant in the British Museum published in Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.55 item 37 and cf. p.142 item 107a. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 4.83 grams, 60.22 mm. 8th century AD. A strap end with its upper edge lobed and pierced to accept two rivets; there is a bifurcation through the thickness of the piece to accept the strap or belt. The surface of the main body has two saltires in the upper zone and a moulded eyes-and-muzzle decoration at the terminal. The central section originally held a rectangular panel which was lost in antiquity. Reference: Webster, L & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.233 fig.191. Very fine condition.

Silver, 2.09 grams, 32.50 mm. Circa 9th century AD. A short, convex-sided, round-ended strap end with a stylized animal head terminal; the square snout is surmounted by beaded lateral eyes and stylized rectangular ears. Above the head is a rectangular field containing a Trewhiddle Style zoomorphic motif. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923 p.107, fig.131(3). Good fine condition. Found Yorkshire.

Silver, 4.04 grams, 35.22 mm. 8th-9th century AD. A Middle Saxon convex-sided strap end, its upper edge fractured across the circular piercings which held the attachment rivets. The quadrangular central panel features two enmeshed Trewhiddle Style beasts, their haunches in the lower quarters and their heads in the upper ones. Below, two lateral spiral lobes form the ears of the animal-head terminal. Traces of niello inlay are still present in the main field. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.142 item 107(b). Very fine condition. Ex an old American collection.

Silver, 6.71 grams, 37.96 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A beautifully well preserved Langobardic or Bajuwarian silver-gilt bird brooch with garnet settings. The head of the bird has a narrow, curved beak protruding from the socket of the eye, indicated by a garnet cloison. Below the eye there is another garnet setting in an almost crescent shape which indicates the position of the wing. The body is detailed with a triangular panel set with a round garnet which is bordered on two sides by billeted panels; the foot of the brooch forming the tail is again detailed with three garnet settings. There is a pin hinge lug and catchplate on the reverse. Reference: Die Bajuwaren? Extremely fine condition. Ex old European collection. This item is accompanied by an XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Copper-alloy and silver, 35.27/32.43 grams, 113.92/112.33 mm. 3rd-5th century AD. A fine matched pair of radiate-headed bow brooches. The D-shaped headplate is surrounded by four lateral bird-head extensions and a median discoid lobe with human mask detailing in the form of roundels and rectlinear incisions. The inlaid silver plate is decorated with repoussé crescentic motifs and a border of pellets; the surround is likewise decoarted with incised lines and crescents. The shallow bow is decorated with a border of punched roundels and extends to the sub-triangular footplate. The outer panel bears crescent punched decoration and incised borders. Below the junction with the bow, a pair of lateral bird-head lobes, similar to those on the headplate, are placed with the beak facing downwards, and below these is a symmmetrically placed pair facing upwards. The finial is a discoid lobe decorated with an incised pall surrounded by crescents and roundels. The inserted silver panel, which forms the major decorative surface of the footplate, features a border of pellets and crescent. In the upper zone on each an attempt at lettering is visible: in one case, ZO (or NO) and in the other MZO (or SZO, see below). The Tervingi or Ostrogoths around the Black Sea were in close contact with the Greeks at this time, and became Arian Christians on the Greek model; they therefore were familiar with writing although their own alphabet was not devised until Bishop Wulfila (311-383) created it based on Greek, Roman and runic exemplars. Familiarity with Greek and Roman script, Wulfila's newly created Gothic script and with runes must be assumed. The present texts cannot be interpreted as either runic or Gothic script due to the presence of the 'O' character which is absent from both; if Greek, then the 'M' may in fact be sigma and 'N' nu. It may not be accidental that the sequence 'MNO' is alphabetical in Roman and Greek, although the possibility cannot be excluded that the 'letters' were chosen simply because they harmonize with the decorative scheme of the brooch with its roundels and rectilinear incisions, and this is supported by the addition of another 'O' or repoussé roundel on the brooch with the longer inscription. These two brooches are of the highest importantance for the evidence they present of Gothic literacy. Reference: Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007 p.550 item VIII.6.3. Good very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 105 grams, 137.29 mm. Circa 6th-7th century AD. This is a fine, rare example of a great square-headed brooch. The headplate is divided into inner and outer zones by a beaded moulding. On the sides of the outer zone are scroll motifs; the corners feature reserved leaf-shaped designs again with beaded moulding. Across the upper edge is a band of three-band interlace. The inner field is edged with punched pellet designs, and a central triangular setting holds an impressive garnet cloison. Loops of beaded mouldings in Style I suggest a pair of animal shapes. The lower field above the bow contains a suggested face. On the upper bow another sub-triangular garnet is set, and below this there is an empty socket, perhaps for another garnet or more probably an organic fill such as bone or ivory. (Alternatively, this may have been the attachment point for a separate casting, but if so this would be unique on such a brooch.) A mirror-image sub-triangular field is marked out below the socket with beading. From the junction of the bow and footplate spring two necks with animal heads which extend to meet the circular side projections, containing roundels with an outer border of beading. Fields of Style I zoomorphic decoration flank the central field, a panel of three-band interlace. The base is a larger circular panel with a beaded roundel. This brooch illustrates well how certain themes of decoration (in this case beading, three-band interlace, roundels) are continued throughout the design of the piece. Reference: Hines, J. A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches, Woodbridge, 1997 and MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.114 item 13.6. Good very fine condition. Found Ludford.

Copper-alloy, 2.30 grams, 14.82 mm diameter. 5th - 6th century AD. The piece is a nice example of a Class Bii button brooch with a stylized male face. Traces of the original gilding remain. The attachment lugs are partly present on the reverse. Reference: Avent, R. & Evison, V.I. Anglo-Saxon Button Brooches in Archaeologia, vol.CVII, 1992. Very fine condition. Found Tilbury, Essex 2004.

Copper-alloy, 63.05 grams, 48.99 mm. Circa late 5th to early 6th century AD. A rare matched pair of cast saucer brooches of an unusual type. The plain rim encloses a zone with a shallow ridge decorated with a ropework design of slanting transverse incisions. A series of five semicircular arms emanate from the central boss; each arm bears five longitudinal bars stemming from a transverse collar at the root. Each arm enfolds an ovoid bulb. Possibly the ‘arm’ and ‘bulb’ together form a Salin’s Style I eye-and-eyebrow motif. The central boss is surrounded by a ridge decorated with a ropework design similar to the outer ridge. Both brooches were heavily gilded, most of which remains. The catchplates and lugs are present, which vestiges of the iron pins. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.51 item 2.43. Very fine condition. Ex the Lord McAlpine collection.

Copper-alloy, 6.20 grams, 25.36 mm. 5th-6th century AD. The central section of a saucer brooch containing a series of five running spirals around a pentagon with a roundel at its centre. The outer rim, which was cast as a thin flange of bronze, was lost in antiquity. The catchplate and spring lug are in place on the reverse. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.45 item 2.16. A pretty piece in very fine condition. Ex an old American collection.

Copper-alloy, 21.00 grams, 85.63 mm. 5th-6th century AD. The brooch features a cast-on top- knobs, executed in the round, with rounded collar detailing. The plain headplate is flanked by two lateral rectangular wings with vertical incised linear detailing. A deep bow with faceting at the top extends to the restored footplate which is decorated with a shallow collar above a terminal in the form of a beast’s head with prominent eyes and nostrils. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.97 item 12.4. Very fine condition. Ex property of a gentleman, found Hertfordshire.

Copper-alloy, 24.66 grams, 76.21 mm. Early 7th century. The headplate is cast with the side-knobs, presented as bifurcated crescents (or intersecting arcs). The central rectangular panel is plain, but punched pellet decoration remains on the edges. The bow is formed into a rounded ridge, but undecorated. The footplate features two lappets, one broken, with punched pellet decoration. It expands to a bifurcated crescent foot, with transverse ridge decoration and punched pellet detailing. The catchplate is complete, with traces of the iron pin remaining. The piece has a fine patination. Reference: Smith, R.A. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, Trustees of the British Museum, 1923 p.73, fig.82(b). Very fine condition. Found Icklingham, Suffolk in the 1930's. Ex The Old Rectory Collection, Banningham, Norfolk.

Copper-alloy, 12.81 grams, 40.25 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A nicely decorated example of the Anglo-Saxon small-long brooch. The headplate has three crescentic outer plates, the upper with a small pointed crest and the lateral extensions formed as two intersecting arcs. Around the inner edge of the upper plate is a series of incised ring-and-dot roundels which extends vertically and horizontally in a cruciform pattern. The substantial bow extends to a lozenge-shaped footplate decorated with a median series of roundels with lateral outliers. The spring lug is still present and the attachment point for the catchplate is visible; some lateral distortion. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.145 item 15.78. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 37.55 grams, 91.54 mm. This brooch is of a mid-5th to early 6th century type with vestigial wings on the headplate and a single heavy, ribbed domed knob above, cast in the round. The deep bow is undecorated apart from the faceting at the upper and lower edges. The footplate bears transverse ribbed collar detailing above an animal head with flaring nostrils. The catchplate is intact, complete with remains of the iron pin. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.96 item 12.2. Very fine condition. Found Norfolk.

Copper-alloy, 4.68 grams, 62.85 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A good example of a small-long brooch. The rectangular headplate bears two circular piercings close to the outer corners, mirrored by semicircular indentations on the lower edge. The outer edges are decorated with a line of small triangular punchmarks. The bow is facetted at the ends. The footplate is in three zones separated by ribbed collars, the lower one expanding to a broad inverted T-shaped foot bearing triangular punched decoration on the outer edges. The pin-lug, plugged with ferrous accretions from the pin, and catchplate are present. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.135 item 15.43. Extremely fine condition with a beautiful patination.

Gold, 3.21 grams, 22.32 mm. 8th-10th century AD. Octohedral facetted finger rings were worn in the Middle Saxon period, derived from contemporary Byzantine fashion. The present example has a band up to 3.5 mm wide which is at the more delicate end of the range for this artefact type. It was adjusted in antiquity so that the flat surfaces would be visible when worn while the repaired or resized portion would have been hidden in the hand. Reference: Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, p.274 item 248(d). Purchased in Belgium in the early 1960's. An interesting ring in good condition.

Copper-alloy, 8.45 grams, 61.00 mm. Circa 5th-6th century A.D. The mount comprises a central circular field with lateral ribbed bar extensions, terminating in sub-triangular cells with chip-carved Style I detailed decoration. The central field bears a fine chip-carved design, also in Style I, of a human face with prominent eye and brow. The piece resembles an Early Anglo-Saxon belt stiffener but is far more ornate than the standard forms of this class. The gilding is still present on the central field and partially elsewhere. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.212 item 36.9. Good very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 15.84 grams, 54.44 mm / 12.61 grams, 56.37 mm. 5th-6th century. A fine pair of early Anglian annular brooches; one has the copper-alloy pin still intact, while on the other the iron pin has corroded except where it is attached to the band. The brooches both feature series of punched dot decoration along the inner and outer edges of the ring, with transverse lines of punched dots across the band to form a segmented effect. The brooch with the pin intact has a single ring-and-dot roundel incised next to the pin’s slot. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.86 item 10.23. Good very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 13.48 grams, 55.71 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A trefoil cruciform brooch, of which the lower part of the footplate is now missing. Developed from the simple trefoil, this brooch has side-plates formed into double-arcs and a rectangular top-plate. There is a rectangular central raised panel. Lunate punchmarks are placed around the edges of the side- and top-plates and the sides of the panel. The bow has facetted ornamentation at each end and a medial groove. The footplate has vestigial lappets, decorated with the same scheme as the headplate, and a rectangular ‘collar’ which should have formed part of the decoration of the animal-head terminal (lost in antiquity). Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, pp.107 items 12.32. Extremely fine condition. Found Cambridgeshire.

Copper-alloy, 8.96 grams, 59.45 mm. 5th century AD. A very early from of the standard Anglo-Saxon cruciform brooch, this example is complete with the top-knob cast in the round. The deep bow extends into a narrow footplate with incised lateral banding decoration. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.97 item 12.2. Good very fine condition. Ex property of a gentleman, found Hertfordshire.

Copper-alloy, 14.30 grams, 63.75 mm. 5th-6th century AD. The small-long brooch is a standard Anglo-Saxon form of garment closure, mainly used in pairs to fasten peplos-style dresses at the shoulders. This example has a rectangular central panel with lateral wings, a feature which echoes the form of contemporary cruciform brooches. The bow is facetted at both ends, with transverse banding and a central reserved panel. The footplate features a ribbed collar extending to an expanding trapezoidal terminal with a lateral rectangular panel. Punched lunulate detailing is placed in bands at the edges of the headplate central panel, across the upper and lower edges of the bow, beside the central bow panel, and along all three edges of the footplate terminal. The spring-attachment lug and catchplate are both present. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.129 item 15.19. Good very fine condition. Found near Snettisham, Norfolk.

Copper-alloy, 10.41 grams, 50.97 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A crisply-cast example of a classic small-long brooch form. The rectangular headplate is decorated with a series of punched roundels around the outer edges. The plain bow is delicately moulded, and the lozengiform footplate extends to a raised animal-head terminal with triangular brow bearing a single roundel. Punched roundel decoration on the footplate mirrors the design of the headplate. The pin-lug and catchplate are complete. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), Oxford, 1993, p.127 item 15.8. Extremely fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 12.65 grams, 67.52 mm. 5th-6th century AD. An early Anglo-Saxon type of cruciform brooch with a rectangular headplate with three extensions in the form of collars developing into facetted subtriangular terminals in the form of animal-heads. A facetted section extends into the deep carinated bow. The D-section footplate features a section of transverse doubled banding from which the terminal emerges as a discoid. Animal heads radiating from the headplate and the discoid foot are both unusual features on Anglo-Saxon cruciform brooches. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous), Oxford, 1993 p.99 item 12.10. Very fine condition.

Copper-alloy, 15.63 grams, 61.07 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A good example of the square-headed small-long brooch type, decorated with punched lunette motifs on the head and foot, arranged in series within lightly incised borders. The bow features a vertical incised medial line and facetted corners. The footplate has a zone of transverse ribbed ornament. There are remnants of the iron pin in situ on the reverse. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.128 item 15.15. Good very fine condition. Found Worcestershire.

Copper-alloy, 9.93 grams, 55.22 mm. Circa 6th century AD. A fine example of the typical square-headed small-long brooch type. The headplate features three equally-spaced ring-and-dot motifs. The plain bow extends into a narrow, flared footplate with a collar of transverse ribbed ornament; below this is a fourth ring-and-dot motif. Reference: MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.127 item 15.8. Good very fine condition.

Gilded copper-alloy, 11.82 grams, 67.99 mm. Late 6th - 7th century AD. A cast copper-alloy mount with a partially gilded surface, its design symmetrical about the vertical and horizontal axes. The outer element is a bird’s head with a pronounced brow-ridge (a classic Style II design feature) and curled beak. This joins onto two panels: the inner one is billeted, while the outer features a serpent with its body twisted about itself - the head and the tail can be seen together at the lower end. A similar serpent-design can be seen incised into wood on the arms of the harp found at Trossingen, Germany. These design-complexes are arranged around a reserved field consisting of a roundel and a transverse bar; this field is presently empty but traces of attachment points can be seen at the outer edges, suggesting a further decorative panel. Three attachment lugs are on the reverse, one complete. The opposed bird-heads are associated with the cult of Woden in this period. References: Theune-Grosskopf, B. Die Vollständig erhaltene Leier des 6. Jahrhunderts aus Grab 58 von Trossingen, Ladkr. Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg, in Germania 84, 2006. Extremely fine condition. Ex Lord McAlpine collection.

Silver-gilt, 3.53 grams, 35.81 mm. 6th century AD. Bird brooches are a Continental Frankish type found in high-status female graves in Kent. The bird’s eye is formed as a single circular garnet, set into a raised surround. The beak emerges from the top-right of the settings and curls downwards. Below the eye is a carinated collar decorated with punched pellets. The plain body area has two small circular loop on the right representing the hooked claws, and an elongated D-shaped field on the left containing a panel of diagonal bands for the wing. The tail is formed with a sub-rectangular panel containing three radiating facetted ribs, the outer two decorated with pellets. The catchplate is still intact; the spring lugs are obscured behind remains of the corroded iron pin. Reference: Hawkes, S.C. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Bifrons in Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, vol.11, Oxford, 2000, fig.24 items 1 and 2. Very fine condition. Ex Lord McAlpine collection.

Gold, 4.94 grams, 27.32 mm dia, 33.46 mm overall. 6th century AD. Bracteates are a Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon form of ‘symbolic money’ used in the prestige-exchange culture of early medieval northern Europe. Anglo-Saxon bracteates are generally found in high-status female graves, while Scandinavian examples are more widely distributed. The present example is a probably a D-series bracteate with single-animal motif, similar to the deposit-find at Øvre Tøyen, Høland, Akershus, Denmark. The surrounding gold ropework border has granular detailing in single, three-cluster and four-cluster configurations. The suspension loop is ribbed, 5.06 mm internal diameter. Reference: Franceschi, G., Asger, J. & Magnus, B. Mennesaker, Guder og Masker i Nordisk Jernalderkunst Bind1, Silkeborg, 2005, fig.134. Very fine condition. Ex old English collection. This item is accompanied by a XRF ancient metal test certificate from Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd.

Silver-gilt, 7.39 grams, 65.26 mm. 6th century AD. The overall form of this brooch is similar to the D-Shaped Brooches of Kent, based on Continental Frankish forms. The semi-circular headplate has two lateral D-shaped lobes and an upper lobe of similar shape with an interposed waist. The headplate’s surface is divided into keystone-shaped fields, each with an internal triangular dished panel. The bow has raised borders and a central reserved section. A transverse incised line marks the transition to the lozengiform footplate which features an internal lozengiform field containing six radiating dished triangular panels above a seventh extending towards the terminal which is a convex-sided evolved animal head with a transverse collar. The rich gilding is still present across a large part of the surface. The spring lug and catchplate are also present and intact. Reference: Hawkes, S.C. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Bifrons in Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, vol.11, Oxford, 2000, p.71 Conyngham Collection, items 64 & 65. Very fine condition. From an old European collection.

Copper-alloy, 2.98 grams, 37.37 mm. Circa 9th century AD. The overall form is typical of this period, with slightly convex sides curving gently to the broad tip. The usual beast-head terminal has been stylized to the point that the snout is surmounted by an incised lozenge and two pellets within rectangular fields. The billeted or ropework border extends from these features to the ends of the outer edges. The central subrectangular field features incised linear motifs in a lozenge pattern, possibly representing crouching or folded legs. In the upper zone a segmented semicircle has been heavily incised, perhaps intended for an alpha or capital ‘A’. Two rivet holes are placed close to the upper edge. This piece shows superb patination. 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.