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Description: | Incomplete lead pilgrim's badge in the form of the bust of St Thomas Becket. The badge is in remarkable condition although it is now represented by three individual incomplete pieces.
The main piece is the bust of St Thomas. St Thomas is shown wearing a mitre and drapery, and the facial features are extremely life-like in detail and form. St Thomas's face is shown full-face, with a stern expression and a penetrating stare. His eyes are set deeply below the eyebrows ridges. The pupil of the eye is represented by a moulded pellet and thin line that extends horizontally outwards to the edge of the eye. The nose projects somewhat (the tip of the nose is damaged slightly.) The mouth is narrow, following the line of a drooping moustache, the ends of which meet at the cleft in the chin. To either side of the head are curly locks of hair. Slightly lower down on the left hand side of the head is an incomplete loop, which is part of the angel.
St Thomas wears a mitre which is highly decorated with bands of pellets. A horizontal band runs across the the forehead and has a fringe of small pellets which encloses a series of pellet-in-ring motifs running across the centre. A similarly decorated band runs vertically up the centre creating a triangular cell to either side, decorated with large moulded pellets. The upper half of the mitre is extremely worn and the apex is damaged.
Two large collars of the amice are shown draping over the shoulders and meeting in the centre of the chest. These two low-draping collars are again decorated with a perimeter of pellets and a series of pellet-in-ring motifs representing the embroidered apparel of the amice. This feature can be dated to the first half of the 14th century. The bust is framed below by two thin rectangular bands that run the entire width of the bust. Both bands have a moulded linear perimeter enclosing pellet-in-ring motifs. The upper band is straight whereas the lower band is slightly concave. The reverse of the face is slightly concave, whereas the reverse of the drapery is flat and decorated with a criss-cross of moulded thin lines.
There is a curved rectangular length of perimeter frame decorated with a row of moulded pellets. Both ends are broken however one end attaches to the frame beneath the angel. The reverse of the perimeter frame is flat and undecorated.
The final piece is in the form of a winged angel showin in profile facing right. The angel is now bent over at the knees and consequently the rest of the feet and more perimeter frame are visible on the reverse. The left hand break in the perimeter frame joins neatly onto the right hand break of the longer perimeter frame fragment at the curved end. The angel is show with a moulded triangular nose, a large pellet eye and a series of smaller pellets at the back of the head that represent part of the pearled nimbus. The body of the angel is vertically ribbed perhaps representing a gown. The arm of the angel is shown downwards across the body, with the hands meeting in front. The legs of the angel are also vertically ribbed, as are the elaborate wings on the angels back. The wings splay out and extend outwards at the bottom.
This type of pilgrim badge is one of a well-known series of badges that are miniature copies of the life-sized enriched mitred-bust reliquary of St Thomas located in Canterbury Catherdral in the 14th century. The bust was adorned with many jewels, which are represented on this lead miniature by the series of moulded pellets. Offerings made at Canterbury Cathedral show that the popularity of the head reliquary peaked in 1420. Most pilgrim badges in the form of the head reliquary come from London and Canterbury, and so the presence of this early form in Lincolnshire is significant, although not surprising given the popularity of St Thomas. The badge would have been worn on the hat or on the outer clothing and would have been used as an amulet. The supposed miracle-working powers of reliquaries was also thought to transfer onto the objects copied from them, hence the popularity of pilgrim badges.
The bust measures 68mm x 33mm x 7mm. The angel fragment measures 21mm x 20mm x 1.8mm (excluding bent over frame). The strip measures 48mm x 4mm x 1.2mm. | Subjects: | pilgrim | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Daubney, Adam - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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