Casgliadau Arlein

Bronze disc, ornamented in 'chip-carving' with an equilateral triangle set within a circle; the segments thus formed are then bisected. The area within the circle is gilt, while the rim of the disk has been pleted with silver or some other white metal which spreads into the groove of the circle. An irregular hole in the centre, partly demarcated by grooves within the triangle, shows that the disk has been ripped off some central fixture. The 'coarse-chipped' technique, together with the combination of gold and white metal, proclaim this a the produict of an Anglo-Saxon (or at least Teutonic) rather than Celtic craftsman. It is difficult to find completely satisfactory analogies for such an object. It is possible that the central fixture was a shank cast in one piece with the disk, which could then have been used to ornament some wooden object, perhaps a shield. Alternatively, the disk may come from a disk-on-bow great square-headed brooch; the known examples are this size and are 'chip-carve' decorated. The design too is hard to parallel, for tripartite ornament is not common in Anglo-Saxon art.