Jump to content

File:Early medieval silver strap end (FindID 538973).jpg

Page contents not supported in other languages.
This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Original file (1,312 × 1,076 pixels, file size: 375 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Early medieval silver strap end
Photographer
Leicestershire County Council, Wendy Scott, 2013-01-15 13:47:49
Title
Early medieval silver strap end
Description
English: Anglo-Saxon silver strap end, 28mm long, 10mm wide and 4mm thick (at widest point). The strap-end has convex long sides, a flattish rectangular cross-section, and is missing its terminal in what appears to be a recent break. Its upper attachment end is split to receive the strap, and is shaped around two circular rivet holes, both now empty. Below this is a fan-shaped sunken field with a reserved tri-lobed motif within; the central lobe is round-ended but the two outer lobes have W-shaped nicks in their outer edges giving them a drooping shape. Below this is the main panel of decoration, which is shaped to fit the curved edges of the strap-end. The panel is engraved around a reserved Trewhiddle-style animal in profile, with its head towards the attachment end; it appears to be the right way up when the strap-end is held with the attachment end to the right.

The animal has a blunt square nose, open mouth, slender pointed lower jaw and a prominent brow ridge with small dot eye. There are three V-shaped nicks below the top of the neck, and a triangular flaring ear above. The animal's neck then swells, with a group of two then a group of three V-shaped nicks below and a single group of three above. Perhaps this is actually the animal's body, as it then tapers again to a strand that curves down to a rectangular element just above the terminal. This has pairs of V-shaped nicks to either side. Another strand emerges from this rectangular block, curves and interlaces around the animal and ends in a long, large triangular element decorated with an L-shaped groove - perhaps a tail. A final element, apparently detached but perhaps a leg, interlaces with itself and the upper neck and has a triangular lobe with pairs of double nicks before ending in a smaller rounded lobe.

The lower engraved parts of the central field are keyed for niello, which is visible under a microscope in patches along the edge of the beast, particularly the main body. It is likely that the fan-shaped motif was also originally nielloed, though there is no sign of it now. There is a frame all around the central field, with traces of fine ladder-pattern grooves down either long edge, but these appear to stop abruptly about one third of the way down, so are more likely to have never been added than to have worn off.

The lower edge of the frame is shaped around the ears of an animal-head terminal which is largely missing. Only the upper curve of two large rounded ears survives. The reverse is undecorated, and has several oblique scrapes and scratches.

The Trewhiddle-style decoration is well executed, and dates the strap-end to the 9th century AD. It falls into Thomas's Class A, Type 1 (Trewhiddle Style).

Depicted place (County of findspot) Rutland
Date between 800 and 900
Accession number
FindID: 538973
Old ref: LEIC-53D3E4
Filename: LEIC-53D3E4.JPG
Credit line
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk
Source https://finds.org.uk/database/ajax/download/id/411916
Catalog: https://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/411916/recordtype/artefacts archive copy at the Wayback Machine
Artefact: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/538973
Permission
(Reusing this file)
Attribution-ShareAlike License
Object location52° 36′ 15.12″ N, 0° 48′ 05.57″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

Licensing

w:en:Creative Commons
attribution share alike
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Attribution: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum
You are free:
  • to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
  • to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
  • attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

52°36'15.1"N, 0°48'5.4"W

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current12:18, 31 January 2017Thumbnail for version as of 12:18, 31 January 20171,312 × 1,076 (375 KB)Portable Antiquities Scheme, LEIC, FindID: 538973, early medieval, page 4340, batch...

The following page uses this file:

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file:

  • Usage on et.wikipedia.org