Alistair Hardaker | Image: Anglo-Saxon copper-alloy mount found in Holme Hale, Norfolk (DCMS)
DCMS defers export licence until November, giving institutions time to raise the capital for the rare metalwork.
A rare Anglo-Saxon animal mount has been placed under a temporary export bar as an institution is sought to acquire it.
The temporary export bar has been placed on the copper-alloy gilded mount, believed to be over 1,400 years old, valued at £1,054.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport hopes that a UK gallery or institution will step forward to acquire the piece.
It was discovered in 2024 by a metal detectorist in Holme Hale, Norfolk. DCMS said the mount presents an opportunity to research how culture was shared in Anglo-Saxon East Anglia.
The decision to defer an export licence follows advice from the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.
The crafted mount depicts a four-legged animal and is thought to date from the late 5th or early 6th century.
Just over 3cm long and weighing around 5 grams, the mount features attachments on its reverse, which DCMS said may have been designed to be fixed to another object.
The Reviewing Committee said that the mount met all three Waverley criteria for its outstanding connection with national history, and its significance to the study of Anglo-Saxon material culture, and the history of Eastern and Southeastern England in the early medieval period.
Arts Minister Ruth Mackenzie said: “This piece is undeniably a national treasure. It offers researchers an important window into our Anglo-Saxon past.
“I hope this mount can remain in the UK where researchers and the public will have the best access to it.”
Helen Jacobsen, RCEWA committee member, said it was of “particular significance for research into the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms because of its unique form and very rare imagery.”
The export bar will be deferred until 3 November 2026. At the end of the initial deferral period, there will be a 15-business-day consideration window for any formal offer to purchase the mount at the recommended price of £1,054 (plus VAT of £40.80).
A second deferral period of three months will follow if an Option Agreement is signed.
