Chain connectors
A pair of decorated chain connectors, each decorated in the same manner using filigree and granulation, but the first is far better preserved than the second. The foxtail chain (above) would have originally been soldered into the terminals of these connectors but became detached, perhaps forcibly, given the 'tearing marks' on the terminals of both.
Connector 1: made of a small piece of sheet silver folded into a cylinder such that its edges overlap slightly – the fold is still visible. Each terminal is decorated with a pair of plain filigree elements on either side of a section of twisted filigree. This decoration survives in its entirety at one end but is badly damaged at the other.
Further pieces of filigree run lengthways along the cylinder. Directly opposite the fold are two pieces of twisted filigree that have been placed side by side; some of the filigree is missing at the more damaged end. Between these pieces of twisted wire and the fold are two further pieces of filigree arranged in a wave pattern. The wire has been twisted into three spirals, thus forming a wave by means of the straight sections of wire that connect them. At the centre of each spiral is a silver bead, of which only the outer two survive. The pattern is repeated on the other side, but much of the filigree here is missing, as are the beads.
L.: 33.5 mm D.: 5.34mm Wt.: 2.78g
Connector 2: This piece is identical to the first but is badly damaged and bent, with much of the central part missing. Its copper-alloy core is visible and suggests that the sheet silver was wrapped around it, which gave it support.
L.: 31.8 mm D.: 6.16mm Wt.: 2.92g
Material
Metal
Hoard
