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Description: | Early medieval girdle hanger; fragment of Anglo-Saxon girdle hanger of 6th century date. This fragment is the top part of the girdle hanger, consisting of the suspension loop and the upper part of the central shank. The loop is formed from a pierced, rounded lug in the perpendicular plane to the shank. The shank is flattened at the back but moulded in three dimensions on the front. It has a large rounded bulb just below the suspension loop and then narrows and comes to a ridge in the centre, giving it a roughly triangular section. There is then a small rounded knop on either side before the shank flares out again. This upper section has a zoomorphic feel, suggesting the rounded shoulders, narrowed neck, ears and head of a beast. The shank has a broad, double transverse collar just below the beast and is then flattened to a narrow rectangular cross section. This flattened section is decorated with a row of punched arcs along either side. It is broken off approximately 15mm below the collar. Length 55.51mm, width 8.19mm, thickness 7.87mm, weight 9.66g Ref: MacGregor and Bolick "Ashmolean Museum; A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-ferrous Metals)" (pp. 228-231). This shows a number of girdle hangers, a number of which (e.g. 42.5) have similar stamped arc decoration to this fragment. Some also show the three-dimensional moulded upper terminal, although none are as intricate as the current example, or have the zoomorphic element to the decoration. Note - a similar fragment of girdle hanger, with less elaborate decoration, was found within the same field as this artefact. See DENO-47455
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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