{"id":1969,"date":"2017-07-20T21:28:16","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T21:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ncc-zeliart\/?post_type=chapter&p=1969"},"modified":"2018-08-22T03:05:01","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T03:05:01","slug":"the-sutton-hoo-purse-lid","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ncc-zeliart\/chapter\/the-sutton-hoo-purse-lid\/","title":{"raw":"The Sutton Hoo Purse Lid","rendered":"The Sutton Hoo Purse Lid"},"content":{"raw":"
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Purse Lid from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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Purse lid from the Sutton Hoo ship burial<\/em>, early 7th century, gold, garnet and millefiori, 19 x 8.3 cm (excluding hinges)\u00a0\u00a9 Trustees of the British Museum<\/h4>\r\n
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Wealth, and its public display, was probably used to establish status in early Anglo-Saxon society much as it is today. The purse lid from Sutton Hoo is the richest of its kind yet found.<\/div>\r\n
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The lid was made to cover a leather pouch containing gold coins. It hung by three hinged straps from the waist belt, and was fastened by a gold buckle. The lid had totally decayed but was probably made of whalebone\u2014a precious material in early Anglo-Saxon England. Seven gold, garnet cloisonn\u00e9 and millefiori glass plaques were set into it. These are made with a combination of very large garnets and small ones, deliberately used to pick out details of the imagery. This combination could link the purse-lid and the fine shoulder clasps, which were also found in the ship burial, to the workshop of a single master-craftsman. It is possible that he made the entire suite of gold and garnet fittings discovered in Mound 1 as a single commission.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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Interlaced animals\u00a0(detail),\u00a0Purse lid from the Sutton Hoo ship burial,<\/em>\u00a0early 7th century, gold, garnet and millefiori, 19 x 8.3 cm (excluding hinges)\u00a0\u00a9 Trustees of the British Museum<\/h4>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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The plaques include twinned images of a bird-of-prey swooping on a duck-like bird (above), and a man standing heroically between two beasts. These images must have had deep significance for the Anglo-Saxons, but it is impossible for us to interpret them. The fierce creatures are perhaps a powerful evocation of strength and courage, qualities that a successful leader of men must possess. Strikingly similar images of a man between beasts are known from Scandinavia.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
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Purse Lid from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Purse lid from the Sutton Hoo ship burial<\/em>, early 7th century, gold, garnet and millefiori, 19 x 8.3 cm (excluding hinges)\u00a0\u00a9 Trustees of the British Museum<\/h4>\n
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Wealth, and its public display, was probably used to establish status in early Anglo-Saxon society much as it is today. The purse lid from Sutton Hoo is the richest of its kind yet found.<\/div>\n
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The lid was made to cover a leather pouch containing gold coins. It hung by three hinged straps from the waist belt, and was fastened by a gold buckle. The lid had totally decayed but was probably made of whalebone\u2014a precious material in early Anglo-Saxon England. Seven gold, garnet cloisonn\u00e9 and millefiori glass plaques were set into it. These are made with a combination of very large garnets and small ones, deliberately used to pick out details of the imagery. This combination could link the purse-lid and the fine shoulder clasps, which were also found in the ship burial, to the workshop of a single master-craftsman. It is possible that he made the entire suite of gold and garnet fittings discovered in Mound 1 as a single commission.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Interlaced animals\u00a0(detail),\u00a0Purse lid from the Sutton Hoo ship burial,<\/em>\u00a0early 7th century, gold, garnet and millefiori, 19 x 8.3 cm (excluding hinges)\u00a0\u00a9 Trustees of the British Museum<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The plaques include twinned images of a bird-of-prey swooping on a duck-like bird (above), and a man standing heroically between two beasts. These images must have had deep significance for the Anglo-Saxons, but it is impossible for us to interpret them. The fierce creatures are perhaps a powerful evocation of strength and courage, qualities that a successful leader of men must possess. Strikingly similar images of a man between beasts are known from Scandinavia.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>