This unique object is the top flap of a small leather purse. All the organic material has decayed -- what is left are a gold and garnet frame with pure golden hinges and decorative plaques of intricate cell work. The meaning of the figurative plaques is enigmatic. They seem to represent birds of prey hunting waterbirds and a man between beasts. This last motif is known from various places in Scandanavia and Europe. Interlaced pairs of beasts compelte the composition. Anglo-Saxon, Early 600s CE (1939.1010.2.a-1,3)
aperture=f3.5 focal length: 60.0 mm exposure 1/125 sec ISO: 2000