A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



in England ; and copy after copy must have been made, during a con- 

 siderable interval, before the style of workmanship on the costliest objects 

 could have fallen so far below that of the earliest examples. Similarly 

 debased is the ornament on the pair of gilt bronze clasps (fig. 3) found 

 in the same grave close together on the left side of the waist. They 

 appear to have belonged to the belt, from which no doubt a knife and 

 other objects were suspended ; and each pair consists of two triangular 

 plates smaller than that of the buckle, but not unlike that in outline 

 and decoration, though the delicate cell-work and inlay of the larger 

 jewel are here unrepresented. 



Above the head on the right were two shield bosses of iron belong- 

 ing to an ordinary type, the wooden framework of the shields having 

 perished. Close to these lay an iron knife and a ring of the same metal, 

 4! inches in diameter. Opposite these relics, near the south-east, corner 

 of the grave, was, first, a bucket of about 1 2 inches diameter, with an 

 iron frame and ashen staves, the outside coated with thin embossed plates 



BRONZE BOWL FROM TAPLOW BARROW. 



of bronze. Next came to light a fine piece of bronze-working in the 

 shape of a standing bowl (see fig.), 12 inches high and 16 inches in 

 diameter at the rim, which is twelve-sided with knobs at the angles and 

 a pair of massive drop-handles. 1 The base contained a quantity of car- 

 bonate of lead to ensure stability, but the vessel lay on its side ; and 

 underneath the stem was a small drinking-horn with silver-gilt bands and 



1 One almost identical found in Egypt is assigned to the fifth or sixth century (Strzygowski, Koptische 

 Kunst, p. 262, No. 9407, pi. xxvii.) ; and a similar border occurs on a bronze bowl from Kent in the 

 British Museum. 



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