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Description: | A copper alloy shield shaped horse harness pendant from the medieval period. The pendant has a pointed base and curved sides with a flat top. It is 44.1mm long and 27.9mm wide. It is decorated with a thick cross of red enamel quartering the shield. There are five scallop shells arranged on the cross which are gilt, and the background of the shield is gilded or silvered too. If the background is silvered, this may be the arms of the Villiers family. Their arms are recorded in Hertfordshire in the post medieval period, though no references can be found to them in the medieval period.There is a circular projecting lug on the top of the shield in the centre with a circular hole through it from side to side. The lug is 7.6mm 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 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 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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