STUD

Description: An incomplete circular gold and garnet cloisonné setting, probably once part of a larger composite object. The gold base-plate is circular and plain on the reverse. It is split around much of the circumference, and a wedge-shaped section has been torn away from the centre to one edge, probably where a central attachment rivet or tube became detached (see Discussion).

The setting has a double frame consisting of an outer band of twisted, gold beaded wires and an inner border of a single, untwisted gold beaded wire. The inner border has a slight gap in its circumference, apparently where the ends of the wire fail to meet. Inside the frame is an upright gold strip forming a collar for the remains of gold cell-work inside it. The collar is now crushed and torn in places.

The surviving cell walls are also formed from upright gold strips. They too are now crushed and torn, meaning that the precise original design cannot be determined. Five loose red stones were found with the setting, presumably garnets, which provide an idea of the design. Three are oxhide-shaped and two are semi-circular. An additional fragment of gold, probably part of a cell wall, was also recovered.

Discussion: This setting is an example of an increasingly-common type with complex wire frames and cloisonné decoration on the front, and central rivets, remains of gold attachment tubes and / or circular depressions or scars on the reverse. A number of similar examples have been recorded on through the Treasure Act and on the Portable Antiquities Scheme Database, including Haslingfield, South Cambridgeshire (PAS-A78288, 2005 T558), Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (PAS-D41548 (2001T4), Treasure Annual Report 2001, no. 38), Farthingstone, Northamptonshire (NARC-05D4C1, 2006 T84) and Milton-under-Wychwood, Essex (SUR-A393CC).

Such settings have been interpreted as components from composite disc brooches, pendants or other objects. See, for example, disc brooches from Faversham, Kent (Avent 1975, nos. 147 and 160, plates 50 and 56); a pendant from Canterbury, Kent (Webster and Backhouse 1991, no. 10); and a swivelling sword-harness attachment from King's Field, Faversham, Kent (British Museum, registration number 1144.'70) which has a gold attachment tube extending from the reverse. Other recorded settings are similar in construction but differ notably in their attachment methods: examples from Rushton, Northamptonshire (NARC-77D046, 2006 T320), Near Mildenhall, Suffolk (SF-CB7620, 2005 T510) and King's Lynn, Norfolk (NMS-274C44, 2014 T35) have three to four rivets around their circumference, while a setting from the Northamptonshire area (NARC-2CE634, 2009 T648) has a U-shaped fixing on the back. The latter type has been interpreted as a sword scabbard button, e.g. the example from Wickhambreaux, Kent in the British Museum (registration number 1905,0418.16). It is likely that the same basic design was used on all of these items, although their function and the objects to which they were attached clearly differed.

Date: Similar objects have been dated to the late 6th or 7th century.