STRAP END

A bent silver strap-end with convex sides which converge towards a zoomorphic terminal. The split attachment end consists of two plates with a central gap between; it is shaped around two circular rivet holes and has a rounded point in the centre. One of the rivet holes has lost part of its rear plate. Below the rivet holes is a pelta- or fan-shaped sunken panel of decoration containing a four-leafed ornament in low counter-relief. The main decorative panel, also in low counter-relief, bears a depiction of a downward-facing Trewhiddle-style beast. The body is at the top, under the fan-shaped field; it has single and double nicks, plus some curved lines to indicate the shoulder and hindquarters in the lower corners. A tiny fragment of niello inlay survives in one of these lines. A neck extends downwards, with a double nick and a double collar, to end in a profile head with a big circular eye, rounded nose and wide open mouth. A possible leg or tail extends from the other lower corner and curves down underneath the head to dissolve into interlace below which is hard to decode. One strand ends in a single-nicked drop-shaped leaf by the lower jaw; another strand returns up to a nicked and clubbed end between the neck and leg or tail. At the very bottom of the interlace panel the strand widens to a semi-circular lobe.

The interlace is surrounded by a narrow counter-relief line and then a border of rounded pellets runs down each side, from just below the attachment end to just above the animal-head terminal. This has moulded oval ears with curved grooves towards their tops, a lozenge forming the brow above a double chevron with niello inlay, and a three-dimensional moulded nose, with deep recesses (probably originally containing glass pellets) for the eyes and nostrils.

All of the recessed areas of the strap-end appear to be keyed, and it seems likely that all originally had a niello inlay.

This is a typical example of a Thomas Class A, Type I strap-end, decorated in Trewhiddle-style ornament, which is commonly seen on Anglo-Saxon strap-ends and other metalwork broadly of the 9th century.