7th century A.D. A trio of silver-gilt sword belt mounts comprising: a buckle plate adorned with applied pellets of varying sizes, granulated lozenges to the front edge, articulate tongue; a roughly D-shaped plate with flange, decorated with granulated clusters arranged into lozenges and triangles with surrounding borders; rectangular plate with one rounded edge, pellets to the perimeter and central panel populated with a central row of lozenges flanked by triangles. Cf. Daim, F., Hunnen + Awaren, Reitervölker aus dem Osten, Burgenländische Landesausstellung 1996, Schloß Halbturn, 26 April - 31 Oktober 1996, Eisenstadt, 1996, p.398, nos.5.365-5.367, for similar belt fittings. 9.9 grams total, 16-35 mm (5/8 - 1 3/8 in.). Acquired in the 1980s-1990s. Ex an important central London gallery, London W1. This type of belt element decorated with granulation, is present in the Avar graves of the second half of the 7th century, and was most likely produced in the workshops of the Eastern Roman Empire, from where they reached the Avar lands as imperial gifts (tomb of Kunbàboni) or spoils of war. They were part of multiple belts, to which sabers and knives were attached, commonly used among Avars, Bulgars and Romans during the 7th and 8th centuries AD. [3]