6th century AD. A large silver buckle comprising a hollow cast loop, plate and tongue; the loop hollow, formed as a w-shaped shell with a couch for the tongue placed centrally, attached to the forward edge of the plate by a hinge and a small hoop attached to the outer edge; the tongue a solid, D-section bar with the tip extending over the front edge of the loop, and a conical block to the rear; the plate discoid, hollow and pierced by three dome-headed rivets, the middle one engaging with the plate's extension to the rear of the belt; southeast European workmanship. Cf. Miks, C. Relikte eines Frühmittelalterlichen Oberschichtgrabes? in Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz, vol.56, 2009, fig 71 item 6. 72 grams, 72mm (2 3/4"). Property of a gentleman; previously in an old English collection formed in the 1950s. [No Reserve]

Fine condition.