PRE-VIKING GILT BEAST-HEAD CROSS MOUNT Later 6th-7th century AD A silver sword mount formed as a central square panel with cell above, four beast-head arms; the cell with inset garnet cloison and crimped gold foil behind; the centre hollow with slider-bar to the reverse; each arm a stylised beast-head with bilinear collar, bilinear brow-ridge and nasal, pellet eyes and nostrils with bilinear frames. 18 grams, 45mm (1 3/4"). Condition Very fine condition. Provenance Property of a European gentleman; acquired German in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Literature See Franceschi, G., Jorn, A. & Magnus, B. Mennesker, Guder og Masker i Nordisk Jernalderkunst, vol.1, Borgen, 2005; Hammond, B. British Artefacts vol.1 - Early Anglo-Saxon, Witham, 2009; Menghin, W. Das Schwert im Frühen Mittelalter, Stuttgart, 1983; Pollington, S., Kerr, L. & Hammond, B. Wayland's Work: Anglo-Saxon Art, Myth & Material Culture from the 4th to 7th century, Ely, 2010; Mortimer, P. Woden's Warriors. Warriors and Warfare in 6th-7th Century Northern Europe, Ely, 2011. Footnotes Sword pyramids were once a very rare class of find, discovered only in very high-status burials such as Niederstotzingen (Germany), Sutton Hoo Mound 1 (Suffolk, England) and the Broomfield barrow (Essex, England). Since the 1980s, a quantity of such finds have come to light and the object-class is now better understood. They are found predominantly in England, the Rhineland, central Europe and southern Scandinavia, and were a short-lived display item. The classic form is a truncated hollow gold (or silver, or bronze) pyramid with a bar to the reverse, inset garnet and glass plaques to the four faces and top (Pollington et al., fig.8.52 and plates 19, 54, 55; Hammond, p.73-4; Menghin, map 22). Several variant forms do exist, such as the octagonal-base and the conical types (Hammond, 2009, item 1.4.2.2-f; Mortimer, 2011, p.117). Another common Continental variant includes a flat-section rectangular plaque, as well as a form with curved edges to the plaque (Menghin, map 23). The present example with four beast-heads is apparently unique, although it has parallels in later harness and other mounts. The beast-heads have close parallels on the headplate of a 6th c. silver bow-brooch from Stora Gairvide, Gotland (Franceschi et all, item 75) and on the footplate of another from a burial mound at Sandal, Norway (Franceschi et al., item 66). The exact purpose of the pyramids is not known, but when they occur in graves they are usually placed in pairs high on the sword's scabbard (Menghin, p.150 and fig.90) which suggests that they were used in the suspension of the scabbard from its belt, or more evocatively in the fastening of textile 'peace-bands' which secured the sword in its scabbard and provided a very visible demonstration that the owner did not intend to draw it in haste (Mortimer, p.116).
PRE-VIKING GILT BEAST-HEAD CROSS MOUNT Later 6th-7th century AD A silver sword mount formed as a central square panel with cell above, four beast-head arms; the cell with inset garnet cloison and crimped gold foil behind; the centre hollow with slider-bar to the reverse; each arm a stylised beast-head with bilinear collar, bilinear brow-ridge and nasal, pellet eyes and nostrils with bilinear frames. 18 grams, 45mm (1 3/4"). Condition Very fine condition. Provenance Property of a European gentleman; acquired German in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Literature See Franceschi, G., Jorn, A. & Magnus, B. Mennesker, Guder og Masker i Nordisk Jernalderkunst, vol.1, Borgen, 2005; Hammond, B. British Artefacts vol.1 - Early Anglo-Saxon, Witham, 2009; Menghin, W. Das Schwert im Frühen Mittelalter, Stuttgart, 1983; Pollington, S., Kerr, L. & Hammond, B. Wayland's Work: Anglo-Saxon Art, Myth & Material Culture from the 4th to 7th century, Ely, 2010; Mortimer, P. Woden's Warriors. Warriors and Warfare in 6th-7th Century Northern Europe, Ely, 2011. Footnotes Sword pyramids were once a very rare class of find, discovered only in very high-status burials such as Niederstotzingen (Germany), Sutton Hoo Mound 1 (Suffolk, England) and the Broomfield barrow (Essex, England). Since the 1980s, a quantity of such finds have come to light and the object-class is now better understood. They are found predominantly in England, the Rhineland, central Europe and southern Scandinavia, and were a short-lived display item. The classic form is a truncated hollow gold (or silver, or bronze) pyramid with a bar to the reverse, inset garnet and glass plaques to the four faces and top (Pollington et al., fig.8.52 and plates 19, 54, 55; Hammond, p.73-4; Menghin, map 22). Several variant forms do exist, such as the octagonal-base and the conical types (Hammond, 2009, item 1.4.2.2-f; Mortimer, 2011, p.117). Another common Continental variant includes a flat-section rectangular plaque, as well as a form with curved edges to the plaque (Menghin, map 23). The present example with four beast-heads is apparently unique, although it has parallels in later harness and other mounts. The beast-heads have close parallels on the headplate of a 6th c. silver bow-brooch from Stora Gairvide, Gotland (Franceschi et all, item 75) and on the footplate of another from a burial mound at Sandal, Norway (Franceschi et al., item 66). The exact purpose of the pyramids is not known, but when they occur in graves they are usually placed in pairs high on the sword's scabbard (Menghin, p.150 and fig.90) which suggests that they were used in the suspension of the scabbard from its belt, or more evocatively in the fastening of textile 'peace-bands' which secured the sword in its scabbard and provided a very visible demonstration that the owner did not intend to draw it in haste (Mortimer, p.116).
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