Beschreibung:

VIKING BRONZE OSEBERG ENTWINED BEAST STRAP MOUNT Mid-8th-mid-9th century AD A cast copper-alloy bridle strap mount with an Oseberg Style beast modelled in the half-round, the sinuous limbs contorted around the body formed as a bulbous chest and slender lower area; the head placed above, facing, with small pellet eyes and arched brow; rectangular loop to one end, and two circular piercings in the beast's body to accept attachment rivets. 11 grams, 49mm (2"). Very fine condition. Provenance Found Haverhill, Suffolk, UK. Literature Cf. Thomas, G. Late Anglo-Saxon and Viking-Age Strap-Ends 750-1100, Part 21, London, 2004, items 36-7. Footnotes Formally, the mount resembles strap ends of Thomas's Class G with a twisted zoomorph at the lower end, which probably derive from objects of this type.