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Description: | A copper alloy mount or handle escutcheon which may be from an Early Medieval vessel such as a hanging bowl. It may have acted as a handle or suspension loop. The mount is in the form of a dragon and is a C shape with a tail at the bottom of the loop. At the top right of the mount the terminal is rounded. On the right of the terminal is a slightly raised circular rough area. This may be the remains of a rivet or soldering to the vessel.
At the top of the curve there is a projection upwards which is the neck of the dragon. There are ridges or spines on the back of the creature??s neck. These are similar to the depiction of a backward facing animal on a brooch from Foxhall (West 1998, 163). The head of the animal on the mount is rounded with a tapering snout which faces left, towards the back of the C. The head is tilted to the left. There are circular hollows representing eyes, pinching on the end of the snout forming nostrils and an indented line for the mouth with triangular teeth. The creature has projecting vertical ears that are oval, like those on a dragonesque brooch, but they are represented by just one triangular projection on the top of the head with oval hollows on the sides.
The back of the C or the chest of the animal is decorated with opposing pairs of curved diagonal lines. Where the curve of the C starts to return to the right there is a small projection which curves left towards the back of the C. At the point where one would expect the bottom of the C to terminate, the metal bends down and flattens. This end may be an old break as there is no moulded terminal. On the right hand surface of the bent part the metal is rough and the patina is different. The mount may have been soldered to the vessel here.
The mount measures 61mm from the top of the ear to the bottom of the tail. It is 31.2mm wide from the right side of the top terminal to the back of the C. It is 9.8mm thick. A suspension loop or handle of a similar shape but not in the form of a dragon and of smaller size can be found in West (1998, 137) which dates from the Early Medieval period. | Subjects: | mount | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Cooper, Amy - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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