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SCABBARD
Unique ID: PAS-141C31
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
Gold hemisphere set on a back plate and edged with beaded gold wire, diameter 14.5mm, ht. 10.4mm; total weight with detached loop 3.54g. The sides of the dome are divided by beaded wire into four fields below two rings of beaded wire framing a tall plain collar on the top. The collar holds a damaged piece of dark blue glass. Each of the side panels carries a curl of beaded wire, some ending in triple gold granules and granules are tucked into the corners of the design. A small hole near the base shows a void, indicating this is not solid gold but has or had an inert core such as sulphur. The back plate is slightly dished and has the ends of a plain gold loop soldered to it. The loop this is still present but bent and broken off. The place of attachment on the back plate is decorated by a loop of beaded wire. The workmanship is competent but not of the highest quality with ends of unbeaded wire in use, irregular use of granules and a gap in a collar filled by a granule.
This is consistent with Anglo-Saxon work but the conservatism of working in gold filigree and granulation on such a small scale makes it hard to date with any certainty.
Notes:
There is considerable evidence for gold-working from the Alfredian period onwards, late 9th to 10th century but no use is made here of the clips and serrated-filigree bands which would confirm such a date. Although this item is on a small scale serrated bands were used on a finger ring of the 10th century (Backhouse, Turner and Webster 1984, no 90). On purely stylistic grounds, namely the elaborately constructed collared setting and the use of the small berry bunches I think this could be work from the second half of the 8th century or early 9th. Good parallels for the berried scrolls are seen in repoussé work in gilt copper on the Hoddom sheets and the side of the Bischofshoven (Rupertus) cross, all of which are dated to this period (Webster and Backhouse 1991, 135, 133). An elaborate gold finger ring, 'the Joan Evans' ring now in the Ashmolean Museum, while much more ambitious in its filigree ornament has comparable fields with triple-berried bunches, and filigree is used on the back. This is dated to the late 8th or early 9th century (Hinton 1974, no. 38).
While it is tempting to call this a button, it is a delicate and valuable ornament and was probably used to enrich an article of clothing: there are descriptions of cloaks and other garments in the early middle ages decorated with precious attachments.
Class: button
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: Luton Museum
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2002T224
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Middle
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 750
Date to: Circa AD 850
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Height: 10.4 mm
Weight: 3.54 g
Diameter: 14.5 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 1st September 2002
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Treasure case number: 2002T224
Materials and construction
Primary material: Gold
Secondary material: Glass
Completeness: Complete
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backhouse, J., Turner, D.H. and Webster, L. | 1984 | The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art | British Museum Publications | ||||
| MacGregor, A. and Bolick, E. | 1993 | A summary catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon collections (non-ferrous metals), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford | Oxford | Tempvs Reparatum | |||
| Webster, L. and Backhouse, J. | 1991 | The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900 | London | British Museum Press |
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