The strap end dates to the 9th century and belongs to Thomas’ Class A, Type 5a (A5a): ‘split-end strap-end of convex form with zoomorphic terminals, an average width/length ratio of 1:3:5, decorated with a single field of inlaid, silver wire decoration’.

Rectangular in plan and of small size, its upper edge is split to accommodate a thin, leather strap. Highly decorated, most of its external face is taken up by a recessed rectangular panel inlaid with niello. Decorative silver wire scrollwork has been set into this, comprising three horizontal ‘S’ shaped motifs with curled ends. Three horseshoe-shaped motifs are squeezed as ‘filler’ into the fields above and below these. Directly underneath the central panel, the strap end’s terminal is zoomorphic. It takes the form of a three-dimensional animal head with large oval ears, deeply pitted eyes and flared nostrils. At the centre of its forehead is an inlaid spiral of silver wire set within a smaller niello panel.

This particular type of strap end (A5a) is a highly distinct, regional variant of these objects. They are certainly of East Anglian affiliation, with the vast majority discovered in either Norfolk or Suffolk. One concentration visible within the catchment of Ipswich has led to the suggestion that they were produced at a specialised workshop located within the wic itself. Other scattered examples discovered outside the East Anglian core zone likely reflect dispersal via commercial links, particularly those stretching up the seaboard of eastern England.