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Purse lid from the ship-burial at Sutton Hoo

600/650

British Museum

British Museum
London, United Kingdom

Wealth, and its public display, was probably used to establish status in early Anglo-Saxon society much as it is today. The purse lid from Sutton Hoo is the richest of its kind yet found.

The lid was made to cover a leather pouch containing gold coins. It hung by three hinged straps from the waist belt, and was fastened by a gold buckle. The lid had totally decayed but was probably made of whalebone – a precious material in early Anglo-Saxon England. Seven gold, garnet cloisonné and millefiori glass plaques were set into it. These are made with a combination of very large garnets and small ones, deliberately used to pick out details of the imagery. This combination could link the purse-lid and the fine shoulder clasps, which were also found in the ship burial, to the workshop of a single master-craftsman. It is possible that he made the entire suite of gold and garnet fittings discovered in Mound 1 as a single commission.

The plaques include twinned images of a bird-of-prey swooping on a duck-like bird, and a man standing heroically between two beasts. These images must have had deep significance for the Anglo-Saxons, but it is impossible for us to interpret them. The fierce creatures are perhaps a powerful evocation of strength and courage, qualities that a successful leader of men must possess. Strikingly similar images of a man between beasts are known from Scandinavia.

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  • Title: Purse lid from the ship-burial at Sutton Hoo
  • Date Created: 600/650
  • Physical Dimensions: Length: 19.00cm (frame); Width: 8.30cm (frame, excl hinges); Length: 4.30cm (mount b); Width: 2.30cm (mount b); Weight: 18.45g (mount b); Length: 3.30cm (mounts c & d); Width: 2.80cm (mounts c & d); Weight: 13.53g (mount c); Weight: 16.87g (mount d); Length:
  • External Link: British Museum collection online
  • Technique: filigree; cloisonn
  • Subject: bird; mammal; animal; fungus
  • Registration number: 1939,1010.2.a-l
  • Place: Excavated/Findspot Sutton Hoo
  • Period/culture: Early Anglo-Saxon
  • Material: gold; garnet; glass
  • Copyright: Photo: © Trustees of the British Museum
  • Acquisition: Donated by Pretty, Edith M
British Museum

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