7th century AD. A flat-section gilt-bronze pelta pendant with notched border, triangles filled with punched-point detailing, crescents to the lower edge, central figure of a bird with extended wing. 9.94 grams, 64mm (2 1/2"). Property of a German collector; acquired in the 1990s. Cf. pelta-shaped gilt-bronze bridle fittings from Sutton Hoo Mound 17 in Carver, M. Sutton Hoo. A Seventh Century Princely Burial Ground and its Context, London, 2005, fig.113, item 25e-ii. The profile bird with hooked claw and divided tail is a motif used in England and Scandinavia in the 6th-7th century AD. It appears on the shield of the king in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo and on the equipment of the contemporary burials at Vendel, Valsgrde and elsewhere in central Sweden.

Fine condition.