Beschreibung:

VIKING SINUOUS BEAST STRAP END 11th century AD A bronze tag or strap end, a variant of Thomas's Class G, formed as two trapezoidal plaques pierced for attachment to a strap or belt, the lower end formed as a beast-head with an 8-shaped serpent in its mouth. 8.88 grams, 39mm (1 1/2"). Fine condition. Provenance Found Winteringham, Lincolnshire, UK; in 1997. Literature Cf. Thomas, G. Late Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age Strap-Ends 750-1100: Part 2, Finds Research Group datasheet 33, Sleaford, 2007, item 36. Footnotes The mount is unusual in that the head and serpent are formed perpendicular to the plane of the plaques. It is more usual to find the head formed in the same plane as the plaques, although Thomas's type B6 does feature beast-heads modelled in the round. It is possible that the present form is an Anglo-Scandinavian copy of the Class G type.