9th century AD. A tapering round-section Æstel with transverse fixing pin, collar to the neck and flat discoid head with rosette motif in high relief. 5.77 grams, 47mm (2"). From an old North Country collection; formed between 1970-2000. Cf. Webster, L. & Backhouse, J. The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900, London, 1991, items 258, 259, 260. Æstel is the Old English name for a pointer used in reading, conventionally a wooden or ivory rod with a durable metal fitting. King Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great) sent an æstel to each of the bishops of his kingdom to accompany a copy of the newly-translated text of Pope Gregory I's Regula Pastoralis. The Alfred Jewel may have been made as a high-status version of the same object type. The disc with petals design features on the nativity scene of the later 8th-early 9th century Franks Casket above the three magi.

Very fine condition.