MOUNT

Description: Incomplete early-medieval Carolingian-style silver mount or strap slide, with foliate decoration cast in low relief, partially gilded and inlaid with niello. The mount is sub-rectangular with one complete and two partial original edges surviving and a transverse break which is unworn but not very recent.

The complete end of the plate is slightly thickened and surmounted by three leaf-shaped mouldings, the middle of which forms a trefoil. These rise from a sharp transverse recess, beyond which the sides of the plate are convex and the upper face rises to a transverse arris before thinning again towards the break. On one side of the arris, again springing from the recess and roughly in mirror-image to the leaves at the complete end, is a large pointed trefoil leaf with smaller pointed leaves to either side. Facing these, on the other side of the arris, are two smaller pointed trefoil leaves. The leaves are in most cases formed by thick silver ridges with oblique nicks on the inner edges, which appear to have originally been filled with niello, although much is now missing. Gilding survives on the recessed parts of the design and may either have worn off the higher elements, or partial gilding may have been used to accentuate the design.

On the reverse, two of the surviving original edges (one long edge and the surviving short edge) project downwards beyond the back of the plate forming a lip, with a rectangular-sectioned projection broken flush with the lower edge in the centre of the short edge. This may have been an attachment spike, part of a slide loop or a pierced lug for attachment. The other long edge is virtually flush with the top of the object.

Dimensions: Width 21mm. Surviving length 22mm. Maximum surviving depth 8mm. Scar from missing attachment spike / projection 5 x 2mm. Weight 7.7g.

Discussion: Similar Carolingian-style gilded silver mounts and strap-fittings, many inlaid with niello, have been recorded on the PAS database, including DENO-872273, NMS-ADCA16, FAHG-123AB4, YORYM-EAF943 and SF-E2FFD6. There are also gilded copper alloy examples, e.g. SUSS-0E8FF6 and DENO-184477.

Date: This style of metalwork dates from the mid 9th to the end of the 10th century AD.