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Description: | A cast copper alloy mount of Medieval date. The mount has a sub-rectangular plate with small integral rectangular suspension plates at top and bottom. It is rectangular in section and has a concave profile. The two suspension plates or lugs have circular perforations and are slightly offset from one another, the one at the bottom being left of centre and the one at the top right of centre. The front face of the plate is decorated with a central heraldic motif that fills the entire surface. This depicts what appears to be a dragon left with one front foot raised, a short raised wing and a raised tails that curves forwards above the dragon's hind quarters. The areas of the front face surrounding the dragon, and within a square border that follows the edge of the plate, are recessed and would presumably have once contained enamel. The enamelling is now almost entirely missing, although there are possible traces of tiny fragments of red enamel to the left and bottom left of the dragon. There are no other surviving traces of decoration. The back face of the mount is flat and undecorated. The entire object measures 32.39mm in width, 27.35mm in height excluding suspension plates, 38.54mm in height including suspension plates, 1.96mm in thickness, and weighs 9.03g.
The decorative motif of this object suggests it should date to the Medieval period, and perhaps early in the period. Its function is less certain. It is similar in shape and style to the elaborate Medieval horse harness suspension mounts that are in use as early as the 12th-13th centuries AD, particularly through the presence of an enamelled heraldic motif (see Ashley, 2002: pp. 8, fig. 8). However, it appears to be complete and therefore lacks a suspension loop from which would have hung additional harness pendants. A similar, although not identical, mount of Medieval date is noted on the PAS database from Hampshire and dated to a similar period (HAMP-46A816). It is likely that the current example is a Medieval mount, perhaps for use in horse harnesses and their trappings, and probably of 12th-13th or 14th century AD date. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Brown, Andrew | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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