BUCKLE

An incomplete early Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet belt buckle, dating to c.AD 575-700. This buckle parallels the form of Marzinzik Typegroup II.19b and is the only recorded buckle in this group with garnet and gold cloisonné setting. The sub-rectangular plate, which measures 15.79 mm in width, 23.15 mm in length and 3.93 in thickness and weighs 5.70g, comprises of a gold sheet underplate and backplate with a pair of looped hinges which would have attached the plate to the buckle frame. The buckle-end has a semi-circular cut-away top. The belt was fitted into the rectangular socket, through which are four gold rivets. The sub-rectangular plate consists of a central panel of gold, garnet (or glass) cloisonné cell-work, containing 31 settings/inlays. The cloisonné pattern has been formed from a gold sheet base plate, to which has been soldered a network of cells made from upright strips of gold sheet (Avent 1975, 17-8, Wilson 1984, 25). At least one cell is empty. Thin gold foil backings with embossed cross-hatched patterns were placed underneath the garnet, deepening the colour and enhancing the reflection of light back through the stones (East 1985; Coatsworth and Pinder 2002, 141).

The garnets take the form of a stepped-pattern. No white material, which is thought to have acted as cement, is visible within the cells that are missing garnets. At the mouth-end of the belt plate, a corner garnet is missing and in substitute is a gold metal sheet. This sheet does not appear to have been a flattened or broken cell frame; its sub-lozenge seems to fit snugly within the stepped cloisonné cell and it does not carry any traces of cross-hatching or pattern - perhaps inferring it may in fact have been a shiny and bright substitute for a missing garnet. The edges of the object are bounded with a two fine strands of gold beaded wire, the lower and thicker of which is c.0.55 mm in width. Under the microscope it is clear that some of the beads along the border are incised with a groove and the beads at the corners have been filed or melted and slightly flattened. In addition, traces of very fine filing lines made by the goldsmith are traceable on the cell frames. The reverse of the object is undecorated and demonstrates four rivets around the periphery.

Form and function

The backplate loops are undamaged, raising the question as to how the frame became detached from the buckle plate. It is possible that the frame was made of gold, which is malleable, and may have been clipped and removed. The pin may have been lost or removed. Consequently, the removal of the frame indicates a secondary use for the belt plate, possibly inferring the object was not from a disturbed burial context. Modified 7th century objects were recovered from the Staffordshire Hoard, although no belt fittings were found. Sword fittings, for instance, were removed from the blade and buried in the ground with helmet plaques and religious graphic signs including a folded pectoral cross. It is possible that this piece from Cumberworth also represents a similar modification which might infer it was part of a disturbed cache or ritualised deposition in the ground. Alternatively, this piece might have been an unfortunate, casual loss of a peripatetic or itinerant goldsmith or merchant who intended on reconstructing or even deconstructing the piece for reuse or as bullion for trade/exchange. It is even possible that this belt buckle plate was modified as to be worn as a necklace or dress accessory.

Making garnet cloisonné

Deriving from the Mediterranean and the Orient, cloisonné was introduced into Western Europe (Arrhenius 1985, 18). There are two types of cloisonné: enamel, e.g. Minster Lovell jewel, and garnet e.g. Amherst brooch (Coatsworth and Pinder 2002). Whilst fine-celled cloisonné technique petered out in the later sixth century Merovingian period, in the sixth, seventh and early eighth centuries in England this type of work flourished (Ibid. 132-3). In the seventh century pre-Christian and Christian ornate objects were ornamented with garnet-cloisonné and were deposited in graves of the individuals with access to resources. The link between early manuscript illuminations and metalwork of this era is well known. The Lindisfarne Gospels, for instance, employed the same circular panel with step-patterns as cloisonné enamel or garnet work, implying metalwork techniques were probably the inspiration behind the carpet-pages found within the Gospel Books of the seventh and eighth centuries (Wilson 1984, 26, 38; Arrhenius 1985, 155). Garnet could be found in Europe and it was extensively used by Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths in the sixth and seventh centuries, and although studies have attempted to locate the origin of garnets in Merovingian cloisonné objects, the source(s) of the stones Anglo-Saxons acquired and worked with are as yet unknown (Arrhenius 1985; Coatsworth and Pinder 2002, 132). Loose gems were attainable and were deposited in burial contexts; at Butler's Field, Lechlade (Gloucestershire) a purse with two hundred very small polished but uncut garnets (but unsuitable for use in cloisonné work) were found in a seventh century female grave (Coatsworth and Pinder 2002, 147-8). The miniature scale that goldsmiths were working at involved not only excellent vision, ideal lighting, but also a nimble employment of small tools. Meeks and Holmes (1985, 157) discovered the difficulties of reproducing similar foil patterns to that of Sutton Hoo and found, without the aid of microscopic instruments and mechanical technology, they could not reproduce the same fine quality and small scale pattern. The filing marks and the incised lines of the beaded wire edging are not visible to the naked eye of the author.

Notes:

Although rectangular plate gold buckles are known, no direct parallels with a semi-circlar cut away top are known to the author. Gold and garnet cloisonné belt fittings are usually associated with high-status male graves dating to the 7th century e.g. the strap-end and belt buckles from Sutton Hoo (British Museum 1939,1010.14 and 1939,1010.11)

Date:

Late sixth to seventh century

References:

Arrhenius, B., 1985. Merovingian Garnet Jewellery. Emergence and social Implications. Stockholm. The Turbulent Epoch. New materials from the Late Roman Period and the Migration Period. Monumenta Studia Gothica, 5, pp.64-83.

Coatsworth, E, Pinder, M. 2002. The Art of the Anglo-Saxon Goldsmith; Fine Metalwork in Anglo-Saxon England: its Practice and Practitioners, Boydell Press.

Hines, J. and Bayliss, A., 2013. Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th Centuries AD: A Chronological Framework. London: The Society for Medieval Archaeology. The Society for Early Medieval Archaeology Monograph 33

Marzinzik, S., 2003. Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (Late 5th to Early 8th Centuries AD): Their Classification and Context.Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, British Series, No. 357

Meeks, N.D. and Holmes, R., 1985. The Sutton Hoo garnet jewellery: an examination of some gold backing foils and a study of their possible manufacturing techniques. Anglo-Saxon studies in archaeology and history, (4), pp.143-157.

Wilson, D.M., 1984. Anglo-Saxon art: from the seventh century to the Norman conquest. London: Thames and Hudson.

Conclusion:

The item comprises more than 10% precious metal and is over 300 years old. As such it qualifies as potential Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.