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Description: | A copper alloy horse harness pendant from the medieval period. The pendant is shaped like a six petalled flower and is openwork with a circular flat disc behind. It is 50.7mm long and 35.7mm wide. The pendant has a flat circular back piece which has damaged edges and is hinged at the top. In the centre of the front of this piece is a large projecting knop. This forms the centre of the flower when the back piece is forwards. The openwork piece, with which the back piece hinges, has six lobes and is openwork and the knop fits into the centre between the lobes. A copper alloy pin threads through the double lug at the top of the openwork piece and the single lug of the back piece to allow them to hinge. There is a circular projecting lug above the hinge at the top in the centre with a circular hole through it from side to side. The lug is 9.3mm thick. There are minute traces of gilt on all sides of the pendant. The metal is dark brown in colour with areas of rich dark green, almost blue, corrosion. Similar 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 more commonly (Griffiths, 1995, 'The Medieval Horse and its Equipment').
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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