English: Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) Thomas Class A strap-end made from silver, with gold and niello decoration. The body is made from silver, one end divided for the insertion of a strap, which would have been secured by the two in situ silver rivets. Decoration is by engraving, possibly enhancing some cast features.

There are 13 panels of gold set into the body, each decorated with stippling. Some niello is evident in linear elements of the engraved design, and may originally have been present in all engraved features. The strap-end terminates with a zoomorphic mask, having two round ears and two apertures for the eyes, which probably originally contained glass beads. The sides of the mask have fine engraved lines and a small engraved wedge-shaped element, perhaps indicating a mouth. The central area is edged with a beaded border, and in addition to the gold panels there are 8 engraved panels of foliate decoration.

The majority of 9th-century strap-ends found in Britain are of copper-alloy, occasionally with silver inlay. Silver examples are less common, but still not infrequent finds. Most of these latter are of similar form to this example (Thomas Class A), and are also often enhanced with niello. It measures 48mm long by 17mm wide and weighs 14.03g.

This object was found with the aid of a metal detector in the early 1990s, prior to the passing of the Treasure Act. It was reported to the Coroner at the time, but was not deemed as likely to qualify as Treasure Trove and was not made the subject of an inquest.

The finder has researched this strap-end and related it to contemporary artefacts. His findings follow:

Two matching silver strap-ends from Ipsden (Oxon), and now in the Ashmolean Museum, are unusual in having sheet gold panels inserted into their main bodies, the panels themselves being decorated with filigree work. However, there is only one piece of early medieval metalwork so far traced that uses gold inserts comparable to the High Easter find (referenced below as HE). This is the Strickland Brooch (referenced below as SB). The Strickland Brooch is an 11.2 cm diameter disc brooch of sheet silver, inlaid with stippled gold panels, niello and blue glass. It has no known findspot, but was in the possession of the Strickland family of Yorkshire until 1949, when the British Museum acquired it. In examining the two pieces side by side, it is possible to observe a number of similarities but also differences. Both employ Trewhiddle-style decoration, but that on SB is zoomorphic, whilst HE employs plant-like motifs. Another significant difference is that the ears of the animals on SB are of a 'comma' type more often associated with northern metalwork of the period, whilst the HE strap-end has typical 'southern' rounded ears. The beading of SB is incorporated into the outer edge, but this is smooth on HE. The stippling on the gold panels of HE was carefully applied with a round-pointed tool, whilst on SB it is more random, using a crescent-shaped point. The inserts in both pieces have been formed to fill spaces in the respective designs, but in both cases are of similar size - although a much larger object, SB does not have significantly larger inserts.

Given the extreme rarity of metalwork employing this distinctive element of stippled gold insets, and taking into account the other similarities, it seems highly likely that the two pieces are of the same school, but perhaps with one element working in the north and another in the south, or perhaps a single element migrating over a period of time and adopting some local stylistic elements. Both pieces may reasonably be described as 'high status,' the strap-end presumably being part of a set. The presence of such a single strap-end within a Romano-British scatter in High Easter is presumably chance, with accidental loss being the most likely explanation. It is also conceivable that it was lost elsewhere and arrived on the site through the deposition of fertiliser, or just possibly was concealed at that location as an item of stored wealth. Whatever the explanation it is a remarkable piece. The strap-end is currently in private hands, but it is hoped that it will be possible to arrange it donation to the British Museum in due course.

Refs: Thomas, G. 2000 "A Survey of Late Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age Strap-Ends from Britain". Unpublished doctorial thesis, University of London. Webster, L.E. & Backhouse, J. (Eds) 1991. The Making of England. London: British Museum Publications. Wilson, D.M. 1964. Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork, 700-1100, in the British Museum, Catalogue of the Antiquities of the Later Saxon Period, vol. I, London.

Subsequent discoveries recorded on the PAS database have allowed some more parallels to be identified; silver strap-ends LVPL-7EE655 (2011 T739) and ESS-36B1B4 (2011 T512) both have niello inlay and gold inserts, although without the stippling of HE and SB.