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Description: | Incomplete cast gilt copper alloy suspension mount. This is a medieval harness fitting from which a pendant would have been suspended. This mount consists of two arms forming a horizontal bar, a third arm projecting upwards, and a shorter stub facing downwards with two lugs. The pendant would have been suspended by a pin through the lugs. The pin was usually made of iron (Griffiths, 2004, p 62). One of the lugs is ruptured.The three arms have a narrow furrow along the central ridges, ending at a transverse ridge. Beyond these ridges, a bulbous rivet head is set within each of the horizontal arms, but this is less complete on the vertical arm. The arms then trace the rounded profile of the rivet fittings and terminate with narrow extensions of decreasing width. When the mount is viewed in profile, it is clear that the vertical arm is gently inclined away from the front of the mount.The rear of the mount, which would have been flush to the harness straps to which it was attached, is flat. The body of one of the three rivets remains, protruding from the rear of the mount. These rivets would have attached the suspension mount to the harness straps.The suspension mount has a dark brown patina and traces of gilding remain, partially obscured by soil. There are also areas of green corrosion products, particularly on the rear of the object.This is a cruciform mount which Griffiths (ibid, p69) explains as a variant of the horizontal bar mount, in which a third arm projects upwards. He suggests that such suspension mounts were fitted where two straps met at right angles.Based on the large number of pendants more recently available for study, Griffiths (1986, cited in Griffiths, 2004, p62) suggests that the date range for horse harnesses decorated with pendants may be wider than the late 13th to 14th century that is often suggested. He states that horse harnesses appear to have been decorated with copper alloy pendants from the 12th century onwards, becoming more numerous in the 13th century and with much gilding, but by the end of the 14th century, pendants were in decline with fashions changing to decorative leather or fabric trappings. Griffiths (ibid. p 62) also states that there is no correlation between type of pendant and the suspension mount used.
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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