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Description: | A copper-alloy late medieval badge or mount. The badge depicts an anthropomorphised crescent moon clasping a seven-pointed sun or star, with one of its points extending out to the right of the artefact. The reverse has two pointed lugs for attachment. Differentiating between the sun and stars can be problematic in such items and an exchange in Shakespeare's Henry V, III, vii is illustrative of this : Lord Rambures asks 'My lord constable, the armour that I saw in your tent tonight, are those stars, or suns, upon it?' The constable replies 'Stars, my lord.' (quoted in Spencer 1990, 104). The sun and moon were emblems of Christ and the Virgin Mary respectively (Spencer 1990, 104) and it is thus possible that there is a religious significance to this artefact. However, the sun and moon were also used heraldically (for example, the arms of the Daunger family were a crescent moon with a sun between the horns (Spencer 1990, 104)) and this may therefore be a livery badge of some sort. Alternatively, it is possible that this badge was intended to be primarily decorative with no additional significance, and the moon has been a popular decorative motif for millennia. Similar types of badges (though not identical) are illustrated in Spencer (1990, 126; figs 237-239) and these are dated to the 14th or 15th centuries. It is likely that this example is of a similar date.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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