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Description: | A largely complete gilded cast-copper alloy suspension mount. This is a medieval harness fitting from which a pendant would have been suspended. This mount consists of a rectangular central boss with two horizontal arms, a third arm projecting upwards, and a shorter projection facing downwards with two transverse lugs. A pendant would have been suspended by a pin through the lugs. The pin was usually made of iron (Griffiths, 2004, p 62). The three arms each have a circular incision towards the terminals, and there is a further incision within the central rectangular boss. The front of each of the arms has a narrow flat median apex, with inclined faces to either side, but there are flatter rectangular and rounded features towards the terminals. There are narrow projections with rounded terminals at the ends of the arms. When the mount is viewed in profile, the horizontal arms curve backwards, but the vertical arm and downward projection are broadly straight.The rectangular features on the mount are decorated with a series of crossed diagonal grooves forming lozenge shaped designs. There are traces of gilding visible on the front of the mount, particularly on the smoother surfaces of the upper arm. Otherwise, the mount has an uneven green/brown surface. The rear of the mount, which would have been flush to the harness straps to which it was attached by way of rivets in the circular incisions, is slightly concave and undecorated. The mount is 100.13mm wide, 69.1mm long, with a maximum thickness of metal of 5.1mm. The mount has a mass of 29.9g.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) 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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