|
Date: |
|
Description: | Cast copper-alloy knife handle in the shape of a lion swallowing a fish. The handle is heavy and solid, and has a rectangular panel at one end (33 x 12 mm) which is split to take an iron blade 3 mm thick; some iron corrosion from the blade survives. Two iron rivets held the blade in place. After the rectangular panel the handle becomes narrower and has relief decoration of a bold moulding between slightly upward-curving petal shapes. This decoration is found around three sides of the rectangular section (c. 15 x 17 mm) but the bottom is left flat and undecorated. There are two holes on the bottom in this area, one circular and one more squarish, which both have iron corrosion at their bases. Testing with a magnet reveals that an iron core runs right up to the end of the handle. Beyond the abstract decoration emerge the head and shoulders of a lion with rather small forelegs and paws beneath it. Details of the paws, mane and face have been added using engraved lines which are now almost worn away. The lion's jaws are open and from them the flaring tail of a fish (held so that the long axis is vertical) projects. Both the lion and the fish are well and naturalistically modelled, but wear has made the details a little obscure. Similar handles from keys (but with petal shapes on only one side of the moulding and with no fish, and in general more crudely made) have been found at in a context of 100-280 AD at Fishbourne (Cunliffe 1971, no. 144, pp. 118 and 121), and at Caister-on-Sea (Darling 1993, no. 695, pp.118 and 121).
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
KNIFE
Cast copper-alloy knife handle in…
-
-
-
-
-
KNIFE
Copper-alloy hollow cast fragment; flat…
-
-
KNIFE
Copper-alloy hollow cast fragment; flat…
-
KNIFE
The copper-alloy incomplete handle/case of…
-
KNIFE
The copper-alloy incomplete handle/case of…
|