Viking stirrup mount
Price: on request
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Object number
AR3222
| Object: |
Viking stirrup mount
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| Material: |
Bronze. With remains of the iron rivets.
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| Period: |
1000 AD to 1100 AD. Viking Age. Early Middle Ages of Europe. |
| Description: |
Openwork decorated bronze plate of rectangular shape. The struts in the interior of the rectangle surround a semi-plastical head below the center. Remains of almost completely corroded iron are in the four corners. There, the ornament was once fixed to a surface with iron rivets. Only the front side, towards which the head faces, was visible. The bronze plate is a holder or wear protection for the strap of a stirrup, usually referred to in literature as a stirrup mount. In a horse harness it was applied to the strap that holds the stirrup. The face with the prominent ears and the wavy and floral decorations are typical of the art of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. However, the exact type is rarely attested, as the archaeologist David Williams states when examining comparative finds. |
| Dimensions: |
4.6cm wide, 3.6cm high.
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| Condition: |
Very good condition. The fine decorative elements are still perfectly preserved, only slight abrasion of the central face. The surface is beautifully patinated. Remnants of iron remain in and around all four attachment points in the corners of the piece. The piece had once been riveted there. Rear modern sticker reading "01690 5".
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2021 on the British art market. Exported under Arts Council England license number IPU/01326/21. Previously in British private ownership. Found in 2017, in the village of St Mary in the Marsh, in the county of Kent, South East England. Registered in the Portable Antiquities Scheme database in the same year.
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| Publication: |
The piece is published in the Portable Antiquities Scheme database as record ID KENT-016905.
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| References: |
Cf. David Williams, Late Saxon Stirrup-strap Mounts (Council for British Archaeology, 1997), Class B, no Type.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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