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Description: | A worn and incomplete cast copper alloy zoomorphic stirrup terminal of Anglo-Scandinavian style dating to the 11th century AD. The terminal is sub-oval in plan and moulded in the form of a stylised animal or beast. It has the remains of an incomplete cylindrical hollow back face that would have enabled attachment of the terminal to one of the iron arms of the stirrup. From the base of the terminal projects the stylised beast, separated from the hollow back face by a moulded transverse groove. This has a long neck that curves round to face back up the stirrup, creating a small circular aperture. Two rounded crests run from the top of the beast's head backwards towards the foot of the terminal and are thinner in section than the main body of the beast, creating distinct ridges at the point where crest and body join. Above the circular aperture is what appears to be a second circular perforation that represents the eyes of the creature but is now full of encrustation. Where the beast rejoins the exterior surface of the terminal there is a small triangular shaped moulding that is probably intended to depict the nose or snout. Due to the preservation of the object it is uncertain whether there is any further decoration on the exterior surface of the terminal above the beast. The back face of the terminal would have originally been hollow and entirely encased the iron stirrup arm. However, much of the back face is now missing due to old breaks, with white residues in the surviving concave section probably the result of a lead solder utilised to attach the terminal to the stirrup. This stirrup terminal measures 41.83mm in length, 22.08mm in width, 9.87mm in thickness, and weighs 15.15g.
This object would have acted as a small zoomorphic terminal at the bottom corner of a late Early Medieval Anglo-Scandinavian stirrup. It would have enabled attachment of one diagonal iron arm and the footplate of the stirrup, with a corresponding example on the opposite corner. David Williams notes that the forms of the heads utilised on stirrup terminals such as this were inspired by Scandinavian metalwork, in particular the late Viking Ringerike and Urnes styles (Williams, 1997: 1-2). The curved and crested animal head with hollow back face evident in the current example has a distribution seemingly confined to the east of England, and specifially East Anglia and Lincolnshire (Williams, 1997: 2). It dates to the 11th century AD, with similar examples noted in Williams' study (Williams, 1997: pp. 1-2, fig. 3) and on the PAS database (see for example: DOR-665D58, DENO-C7F312, HAMP-AAAA40 and HAMP-F2D7D4). | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Brown, Andrew | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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