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Description: | Two fragments from a cast copper alloy crown. The crown was likely to have been used to decorate the head of a statue within a Church. This object was found in association with a cast copper alloy gilded pyx lid, with Limoges enamelled decoration. See PAS database No: YORYM-58EB27. The larger of the two pieces weighs 33.6g and measures 130.9mm x 58.9mm x 0.83mm. It is formed from a band of copper alloy. The band would have formed the base of the crown for the statue. The remains of five rivet holes can be seen on the edge of the plate. These could possibly indicate that they were used to rivet the crown to a wooden statue rather than a stone one. The band has an incised border, either side of some incised Blank lettering. The borders are crude and not straight. The Black letter is also some what muddled. It appears to read [---]SSV[EF]R[O], which does not easily translate into anything meaningful to a modern day reader. But it is more than likely that is would have meant something to the medieval audience or the person who wrote it. The letters have also been crudely incised and have dashed edges. The fields in between the letters are infilled with incised rocker-arm decoration, which is both horizontal and vertical. Riveted to the top edge is a second plate. It survives as a triangular plate, but has lost its fleur de lys head. The two copper alloy rivets, which hold it on survive in situ. A punched stud decorates the centre of the surviving part of the plate. It is meant to represent a jewel. There would probably have been six or eight of these fleur de lys extensions around the crown. The second fragment weighs 11.2g and measures 57.3mm x 62.1mm x 0.83mm. It is in the shape of a fleur de lys, with a lozenge shaped top lobe and rounded side lobes. It has been punched with six so-called 'jewels'. The two objects are definitely related. The band is not gilded, as some examples are. It is likely to date to the late 15th - early 16th Century, the style of the lettering dates it to 1450-1530. It is difficult to judge the diameter of the crown, but it was probably 8 inches, slightly smaller than a less than life-sized human head, to fit onto a slightly less than life sized statue. The thin, sheet brass indicates that this object was cheaply produced. Someone definitely wanted to keep these two fragments (which were probably at the time a complete crown) together with the pyx. This perhaps indicates that they were either stolen from the Church and dropped along the way or they were removed from the Church in the 1500's, as Catholicism came to an end due to the reformation of Henry VIII. These fragments have been examined by John Cherry (formerly the British Museum's Keeper of Antiquities) and Kevin Leahy (PAS National Finds Advisor). John Cherry provided much of the description and interpretation.
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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