A beautiful English Romanesque buckle plate dating to last half of the 12th century. The buckle has a raised openwork design which depicts a dragon facing left (or perhaps a wyvern, as it is shown with only two legs). The breast, neck and wings of the dragon have been delicately decorated to represent scales – its head facing forwards. The dragon's tail curls around – creating a roundel then bifurcates and the two strands end adjacent to the two domed rivets. Within the roundel a lion is walking to the left. It was originally silvered on the surface and gilded on the inside and backplate, some of which remains. The dragon is reminiscent of some found on Romanesque sculpture, for example those from the lintel at St Bees Priory church, Cumbria and the tympanum at Southwold Minster, Nottinghamshire. Both have a scaled body and a scrolling tail, although neither tail bifurcates. These examples both date to c1120AD. A wonderful artefact – highly evocative of the period. Discovered by metal detectorist in Lincolnshire.

Dimensions: 36 mm x 26 mm.

References: similar to this example recorded with the PAS: SUR-C27225.