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Description: | Cast copper alloy strap distributor with opposing strap loops, triangular in plan, with external recessed strap bars. At the centre of the distributor is a zoomorphic head, which looks like a bull, with two worn knops for horns on one side, two knops on the top of the head for eyes, and a snout beyond these on the other side, which has a worn edge but perhaps two indents for flared nostrils. On either side of the head are two scrolls with rounded terminals with a central larger upright knop between them, which is probably more decorative rather than figurative, representing four limbs (Helen Geake pers comm). There is a central circular hole on the underside of the distributor, opposite the head, which is 5 mm in diameter, which would have allowed for the rivet attaching the distributor to the strap or wooden base. Much of the original patina has been lost and the surface is slightly pitted. The metal is a green colour in recessed places and darkens to brown where it is worn at the protuberances.The closest parallel on the database is WILT-266B84 about which Dr Kevin Leahy, Finds Adviser, comments: "I think that it is Romanesque, although some of its features look back to late Viking art. The eyes look like the sort of thing that we see on Urnes-style objects and the tendrils look like Ringerike style. I would put it into the 12th century." Another strap union that is similar is LIN-DD4333 with a more stylised head that appears to be related to those on Williams's Class B stirrup-strap mounts, probably dating to the eleventh century. Helen Geake, Finds Adviser, comments: "These two are incontrovertibly late Anglo-Saxon in style and are really good parallels right down to the recess on the reverse."
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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