6th-7th century AD. A bronze sub-ovoid hanging bowl escutcheon fragment with reserved Ultimate La Tène triskeles and comma-leaf ornament in bird-shaped arrangements, tinned or silvered, on a cream-yellow enamelled field. See Bruce Mitford, RT. A Corpus of Late Celtic Hanging Bowls, Oxford, 2005; similar example found at Benniworth, Lincolnshire. 8.04 grams, 38mm (1 1/2"). Found near Chelmsford, Essex, UK, in the 1980s; collection number 021-A00297; accompanied by copies of the relevant pages as published in Essex Archaeology & History, Vol. 38, 2007, p.197 & 198. The mount originally had a hook at the upper edge which would be used to suspend a hanging bowl on a chain. The vessel would have been displayed prominently in the owner's hall, used as a container for liquids such as mead or ale which were consumed by the élite. These bronze hanging bowls were produced in northern Britain and/or Ireland but are found predominantly in the high-status graves of Anglo-Saxon nobility in the 6th-7th century when Christianity was being (re-)introduced to Lowland Britain. The vessels may have formed part of a customary diplomatic exchange between noble families, or possibly have been included in tribute payments to an overlord. A notable example of the type was included with much other feasting equipment in the ship-burial in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. [No Reserve]