A tiny Anglo-Saxon decorative mount has been barred from export by the UK’s Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport. It is approximately 1,400 years old and made of gilded copper-alloy. It depicts a four-legged, long-snouted animal that looks like a horse with his head down. Those four legs are what makes it so rare. Typically Anglo-Saxon ornaments from this period are so stylized that they don’t have simple anatomical outlines like that.
The mount was discovered in Holme Hale, Norfolk, by a metal detectorist in 2024. Even though it is tiny, just 3cm (1.2 inches) long and weighing five grams, it is finely detailed and the gilding is preserved almost over the entire obverse side. The reverse is ungilded and has the pierced stubs of two lugs, indicating it was originally attached to something.
Despite its historical significance, the object was either deemed not to qualify as official Treasure, or it was released back to the finder. It was the finder who applied to the government for an export license after arranging a sale overseas.
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) determined the mount met the criteria defining it as a national treasure whose connecting to British history makes it important to keep in the country, if at all possible.
RCEWA committee member, Helen Jacobsen said:
“Physical artefacts play a hugely important role in enabling us to study the lives and cultural practices of the early medieval period. This object is of particular significance for research into the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms because of its unique form and very rare imagery. Further study will shed light on its function and on the transmission of artistic styles, materials and iconography in southern Scandinavia and eastern and south-eastern England during the late 5th and 6th centuries. It will be a huge loss if it cannot be saved for the nation and I hope very much that a home can be found for it in a national museum.”
The temporary export ban gives a UK museum or gallery until November 3rd of this years to raise £1,054, plus £40.80 VAT ($1,480) to acquire the item and keep it in the country. If a purchase agreement is signed even though the fundraising hasn’t reached the goal yet, there will be a three-month extension to the ban.
* This article was originally published here
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