5th C. Visigoth Bronze Buckle, Blue Glass Inlays
Southwestern Europe / Iberian Peninsula, Spain or Portugal, Visigoths, ca. 550 to 600 CE. A striking, large bronze belt buckle, its surface decorated with over a dozen inlaid deep blue glass baubles - some hemispherical, some flat and crescent-shaped - and smaller clear glass inlays surrounding them, filling in the entire surface of the belt using the cloisonne technique. The rectangular face connects to a thick, round catch-plate with a pin that curves around its center. This pin was probably once decorated with an applied plate based on similar examples. Size: 5.1" W x 2.5" H (13 cm x 6.4 cm); 3.65" H (9.3 cm) on included custom stand.
The bright colors of this buckle's decoration would have caught the eye and contrasted strongly with the original bronze metal color, creating a dramatic and very visible sign of rank for the wearer - an elite Visigothic woman, who probably had a matching large fibula decorated in a similar manner. This type of portable art is a major legacy of the Migration Period, the time after the fall of the Roman Empire. Belt buckles with rectangular attachments are found in cemeteries throughout the Iberian Peninsula - strikingly of the same form, but with a massive variety of surface decoration, perhaps reflecting personal choice on the part of their owners.
Cf. a nearly identical example with different inlays at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1988.305a, b.
Provenance: ex-private East Coast collection, New York, USA; ex-East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#141442
Condition Report: Plate on the pin is lost. Many of the original inlays are lost. Pretty deep green and blue-green patina with some oxidized iron around the pin. Overall in beautiful condition with the glass well preserved and iridescence on many of the clear pieces.
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Southwestern Europe / Iberian Peninsula, Spain or Portugal, Visigoths, ca. 550 to 600 CE. A striking, large bronze belt buckle, its surface decorated with over a dozen inlaid deep blue glass baubles - some hemispherical, some flat and crescent-shaped - and smaller clear glass inlays surrounding them, filling in the entire surface of the belt using the cloisonne technique. The rectangular face connects to a thick, round catch-plate with a pin that curves around its center. This pin was probably once decorated with an applied plate based on similar examples. Size: 5.1" W x 2.5" H (13 cm x 6.4 cm); 3.65" H (9.3 cm) on included custom stand.
The bright colors of this buckle's decoration would have caught the eye and contrasted strongly with the original bronze metal color, creating a dramatic and very visible sign of rank for the wearer - an elite Visigothic woman, who probably had a matching large fibula decorated in a similar manner. This type of portable art is a major legacy of the Migration Period, the time after the fall of the Roman Empire. Belt buckles with rectangular attachments are found in cemeteries throughout the Iberian Peninsula - strikingly of the same form, but with a massive variety of surface decoration, perhaps reflecting personal choice on the part of their owners.
Cf. a nearly identical example with different inlays at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1988.305a, b.
Provenance: ex-private East Coast collection, New York, USA; ex-East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#141442
Condition Report: Plate on the pin is lost. Many of the original inlays are lost. Pretty deep green and blue-green patina with some oxidized iron around the pin. Overall in beautiful condition with the glass well preserved and iridescence on many of the clear pieces.
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Estimate
Time, Location
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