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Description: | A copper alloy heraldic horse harness pendant from the medieval period, probably dating to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The pendant is quatrefoil, with a small pointed lug projecting from the joins between each two lobes. It is 41.9mm long and 33.2mm wide. The pendant is decorated with a lion passant on a blue enamel background, enclosed within a square border. The rest of the front of the pendant is decorated with red enamel with a fleur-de-lis projecting from each edge of the square. The reverse of the pendant is undecorated and is slightly hollow. There is a circular projecting lug on the top of the pendant in the centre. The lug is 7.3mm thick and is broken at the top by a sub-circular transverse hole. The metal is dark brown in colour with areas of paler brown and green corrosion. Similar heraldic horse harness pendants can be seen in Cherry (1991) in Saunders (ed) Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Medieval Catalogue Part 1. Harness pendants are generally dated from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, with circular and openwork examples predominating the twelfth century, more varied types in the thirteenth and fourteenth century including the enamelled and heraldic types (Griffiths, 1995, 'The Medieval Horse and its Equipment'). This quatrefoil example is probably a little later and is likely to date from the fourteenth or fifteent5h century. This style of pendant became especially popular during the Hundred Years' War (1337 - 1453/4) (I Szymanski pers. comm. 19/06/02).
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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