6. The Mystery Object

This is the mystery object and as the name suggests we don't really know anything about it. At first glance this object seems like it's quite a simple construction, so three parts that make up the whole, but when you look closer you can see that even in each part it's quite a technical design. At the top we have the small dome section with garnets around the outside, all individually cut and set, and then they've reused this roman glass at the very top of this black white and blue checkerboard design. As we come down the length of the object we have this section which again has square cut garnets inlaid into it. It's quite a heavy section so we're not quite sure if there's something inside or there's a lead core. At the bottom we have this round section. It's actually, as you can see from the side, it's completely hollow. It's decorated with several panels. They're made separately and then they're inlaid into this base part. They're all friction fit as well, so they're made outside and then the cells are made so they'll perfectly fit into this bottom section. So this object contains about 60 cloisonne garnets and they're very difficult to create. You would have had to cut the garnet to fit the cell perfectly, probably done with lots of grinding, but it would have taken quite a lot of time. Garnets don't have a natural luster, so the way that the Anglo-Saxons got around that is that they've put a very delicate gold foil behind the garnets to add the sparkle, to reflect the light through, so when you view it, it shines in the light. So one really nice detail of this object is on the side we have these panels which show very figurative animal art, similar to what we're seeing on the Great Gold Cross. The reason I chose this object is because it is a mystery. We've never found anything like this before and we have no known parallels from here or in the continent. There are lots of interpretations or suggestions of what this object can be. Some people have thought this could be the boss from a shield, some people thought it could be from a horse saddle or perhaps from a reliquary. One of the more popular suggestions at the moment is that it's actually part of a headpiece from a high priest. The three sections that we have here have no structural integrity, they are purely decorative and we know that because the bottom section is made from a very, very thin gold and it wouldn't have been able to take any hard hits. In an effort to discover what this object is, one of the things that we're doing is making a replica. This replica won't look as the object does now, but what it appeared like when it was new, so that we can hold it and place it on objects to see if we can make sense of what it is. I personally really like this object, simply because it shows us how much there is to still learn about the Horde and also how much there's to learn about the Anglo-Saxon world and the variety of objects they clearly had. Watch out for more films in this series. In September, a special issue of History West Midlands explores the fascinating story of Anglo-Saxon Mercia and the Horde. Subscribe now and register for our free newsletter. In October, a new permanent gallery opens at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The Staffordshire Horde is owned jointly by Birmingham City Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council.