6th-7th century A.D. A gold belt hole-guard of semi-circular form with projecting lobe, the surface embellished with symmetrically disposed and chip-carved foliage motifs, three attachment pins on the back. Cf. Brown, K.R., Kidd, D., Little, C.T., From Attila to Charlemagne, Arts of the Early Medieval Period in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale, 2000, p.175, figs.15.13, 15.14, for comparable mounts from the Vrap treasure. 5.21 grams, 20 mm wide (3/4 in.). Collection formed in the 2000s. Property of an English gentleman. The mount was probably part of a composite belt, decorated with scrollwork in Byzantine style. Many authors discuss if these belts were produced in the Eastern Roman capital or if they were realised by workshops of the Avar Khaganate, maybe with Roman matrices for producing sheet ornaments. These horseshoe-shaped mounts (called hole-guards) were used to reinforce the adjustment holes in the belt. [No Reserve]