- Museum number
- 1980,0708.1
- Description
-
Gold buckle with cruciform plate joined by a hinge to both tongue and loop. The loop consists of eight scallops, seen from above as twin trefoils, the top edge deeply incised in crescent shapes, each with two reserved granules. The tongue is hollow cast, punched on the top in a fret design, and under the tip of the tongue with a craftsman's mark. The loop is joined to the plate
by a hinge composed of four loops, two soldered to the head of the plate, two to the bottom of the loop, all threaded with a gold pin; near the hinge, the plate is chip-carved in an engrailed design in the crescent/granule motif. The rest of the plate is embossed with a Latin cross, the head and arms scalloped and the foot terminating in a roundel; the decoration, stamped from
either side, consists of concentric punch marks with rosette bosses in the corners of the cross, at the intersection of the arms and in the centre of the roundel at the foot. There are four attachment lugs of plain strip on the reverse (no back plate was ever fitted).
- Production date
- 7thC
- Dimensions
-
Length: 98.50 millimetres
-
Weight: 51.95 grammes
-
Width: 39.10 millimetres (hoop)
-
Width: 34.40 millimetres (plate)
- Curator's comments
- Published: Exhibition catalogue, Splendeur de Byzance, 2 octobre - 2 decembre 1982, Musees royaux d'Art et d'Histoire Bruxelles, Brussels (1982), no. J. 10, p. 203 (illustrated). cf. M.C. Ross, Catalogue.....of Dumbarton Oaks Collections, II, Washington DC (1965), no. 4F, pl. X.
Compare with 1982,0507.1 and 1986,1001.1.
- Location
- On display (G41/dc13)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2010 4 Jun-4 Sep, Turkey, Istanbul, The Sakip Sabanci Museum, Byzantium to Istanbul: 8000 years of a Capital
2009 20 Oct-2010 25 Jan, France, Paris, Galeries nationals du Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, De Byzance à Istanbul
2008 25 Oct-2009 22 Mar, London, Royal Academy of Arts, Byzantium 330-1453 AD
- Acquisition date
- 1980
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1980,0708.1
