BUCKLE

Elaborate rectangular buckle-plate or possibly some other mount; very heavily corroded; plate pierced in each corner by a small circular rivet hole for attachment; one of edges has the fragmentary remains of an inset projecting flange which may have originally been rolled over to form a cavity for the inside edge of a buckle frame, this either has billeted or rocker-traced ornament adjacent to its inside edge; the front surface of the plate was once elaborately decorated with a cast or engraved design inlaid with varying coloured enamels, corrosion has now removed much of the enamelling and detailed decoration though the main composition can be reconstructed; the design originally consisted of four circular roundels placed around a central cross with semi-circular (cup-shaped) terminals and an expanded diamond-shaped centre decorated with an octofoil, two patches of opaque blue enamel survive on two of the cross arms; each of the roundels contained a motif, though due to corrosion these cannot be identified (though they may have possibly been birds or beasts), each motif was either inlaid or placed on a ground of enamel, which survives in small areas in three of the roundels; towards the outer edges of the roundels the enamel colour was green whereas that used in the centre appears to have been a polychrome with a blue centre and white exterior; in technique and design this highly decorative object is related to the Limoges school of enamelling.