Rights Holder: North Lincolnshire Museum
CC License: 
Image use policy
Our images can be used under a CC BY attribution licence (unless stated otherwise).
DIE STAMP
Unique ID: NLM-7DC6F6
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Copper alloy die stamp. Cast rectangular plate with rounded edges and with deeply incised detail on one flat side. A doubled groove forms the frame for angular interlaced figures of Salin Style 1. The central components of the motif bear transverse grooves suggesting a vermiform or possibly billeted texture, while some straight members ancillary to these and outside them, but confined within the frame, have a feathered surface texture. The finder suggests this to be a Pressblech die for the manufacture of impressed sheets of gold foil. This object would imply a nearby workshop or craftsman - the latter possibly itinerant, whose patrons would be of high status.
Dr Kevin Leahy has kindly viewed the object, confirmed its identification, and explained the subject of the interlaced motifs in further detail, describing it as a crouching beast. He notes an eye at one end of the panel, and a pair of elongated legs on the lower long side. He has also drawn attention to the close match in size, and similarity - though not exact - between this object and sleeve clasps furnishing Graves 30.2 and 34.1 at the Cleatham Anglo-Saxon cemetery (K. Leahy 2007, 'Interrupting the Pots' The Excavation of Cleatham Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, CBA Research Report 155, CBA, York, figs 88 and 91). From this he deduces that this die was used to make the foils for similar sleeve clasps.
Suggested date: Early Medieval, 475-575.
Length: 37.4mm, Width: 16.2mm, Thickness: 3.5mm, Weight: 13.74g.
Compare LIN-4F6CE7.
Find of note status
This is a find of note and has been designated: County / local importance
Class: Pressblech
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Ascribed Culture:
Anglo-Saxon style
Date from: Circa AD 475
Date to: Circa AD 575
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 37.4 mm
Width: 16.2 mm
Thickness: 3.5 mm
Weight: 13.74 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Monday 14th November 2016
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: NLM34578
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Decoration style: Interlace
Completeness: Complete
Surface Treatment: Incised or engraved or chased
Spatial metadata
Region: East Midlands (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Lincolnshire (County)
District: West Lindsey (District)
To be known as: near Gainsborough
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
Similar objects
Find number: DUR-CA02A7
Object type: DIE STAMP
Broadperiod: EARLY MEDIEVAL
A copper alloy die stamp for making pressblech foils, dating to the Early Medieval period (c.AD550-650).
The object is a cast rectangula…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: SOMDOR-D9DEE2
Object type: DIE STAMP
Broadperiod: EARLY MEDIEVAL
A possible Anglo-Saxon 'Pressblech' die, used for making foil mounts. The die has been cast from copper alloy and the style of the decoration…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: KENT-811752
Object type: MOUNT
Broadperiod: EARLY MEDIEVAL
An incomplete Anglo-Saxon copper-alloy mount, triangular in shape and flat in profile, decorated with a gilded triple-strand interlace patter…
Workflow: Published
Timeline of associated dates
About Us
About our Site
Find us
The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.
T: +44(0) 20 73238618