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Description: | Flat object made from a piece of sheet silver, with gold foil applied to one face. It is approximately triangular, with a wide lozengiform terminal at the apex; just below this, at the narrowest point, it has been bent and re-straightened, causing stress to the metal which has resulted in the loss of some gold foil from the front and some grey surface from the reverse. The base of the triangle is curved and has a ridge (hollow on the reverse) following this curve just above the edge; it looks as if it was designed to fit around a circular central plate or boss. The gilding continues right to the curving edge, beyond the ridge. One corner here is now bent. The foil is decorated with single and double lines of circular punchmarks. A double line down the centre meets a double line around the curved edge, just outside the ridge. The edges are bordered by single lines of punchmarks, and short curving double lines run from the junction of central and curved double lines to the single lines, making an arrow motif of double lines. The lozengiform terminal is less well preserved, but appears to again have borders of single lines of punchmarks, and two double lines running up the centre and slightly diverging towards the top. The circular punchmarks have been a little carelessly applied, and are not in perfectly neat lines. Where the gold sheet has been lost, dots are visible on the surface of the silver. The reverse is undecorated, and has a silvery grey surface which may be solder. The edges are corroded and it is hard to tell which (if any) are original edges. It is 37.5mm long and a maximum of 20.0mm wide; the sheet is 0.9mm thick. It weighs 3.5g. Discussion: No close parallel has yet been found for this object. Andrew Rogerson feels that it is likely to be mid 5th to 8th century, and so parallels were initially sought among Anglo-Saxon material. A gilded copper-alloy bridle mount from Faversham, now in the British Museum (acc. no.1243.'70; published in Speake 1980 and Fern 2005, fig. 5.16) has a circular centre and four projecting elements around the edge. These are of three different designs, generally lozengiform with expanded terminals, and bear some resemblance to the Great Ellingham object, but they are (a) cast in one piece with the centre, (b) much smaller, perhaps half the size, and (c) gilded copper alloy, not silver. The lower terminal is made separately but is relief-decorated and a different size and shape. There are some shield mounts which have gold foils with annulet punches (e.g. Mucking 600, Sleaford 136) but these are copper alloy with silver and gold foils, the punches are annular not dots, and they have spikes to attach at the back. In summary, although some likeness to early Anglo-Saxon objects can be seen, the similarities are not strong enough to suggest that the Great Ellingham object is indeed of this date The object has been examined by Dr Sonja Marzinzik (Curator: Early Medieval Insular Collections), Dr Helen Geake (National Finds Advisor), Dr Barry Ager (Curator, Continental Early Medieval Collection), Dr Leslie Webster (Keeper of Department of Prehistory and Europe, retired), Dr Ralph Jackson (Curator of Romano-British Collections), James Robinson (Curator Late Medieval Europe) and Dr Dora Thornton (Curator, Renaissance Collections and the Waddesdon Bequest). No close parallels have been found for this object; though it is felt to be over 300 years old exact dating has not been possible. Date: Undated;over 300 years old Dimensions: Length 37.5mm. Width 20mm. Thickness 1mm. Weight 3.46g. On the balance of probabilities this object is over 300 years old, though it cannot be attributed to any particular date or culture, and as such it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996. Dr. Andrew Rogerson and Helen Geake
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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