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Description: | A copper alloy mount or escutcheon of possible Early Medieval date. It consists of a flat crescentic plate with rounded exterior edges and a small, central semi-circular suspension loop with circular perforation at the bottom of the plate. The front face has moulded decoration comprising an oval shaped face at the centre of the mount above the suspension loop. This projects into the centre of the crescent and has moulded oval-shaped eyes, a long oval shaped nose and rounded mouth but no hair. Running around the interior/upper edge of the crescent from the head is a moulded groove that extends to the rounded edges of the plate before curving sharply back round to join the bottom of the head at the suspension loop. To either side of the head are two short diagonal grooves that run from the cheeks/chin of the head to the grooved border at the base, perhaps designed to represent the shoulders of the figure. Equally, with the plate inverted the curved ends of the plate with the incised groove as decoration represent bird heads/beaks, the short diagonal grooves acting as stylised eyes or neck (H. Geake, pers.comm.; T. Dickinson, pers. comm.). The entire front face is coated with the remains of a relatively thick and glossy gilding. The back face of the plate is flat, undecorated and shows some signs of green/blue copper alloy corrosion. The mount measures 32.89mm in width, 26.34mm in height, 2.69mm in thickness, and weighs 6.23g. The shape, decorative motifs and gilded surface of this mount indicate it is of Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon date. Similar crescentic or peltaic mounts are noted in the Ashmolean continental collections (MacGregor, 1997: p. 192, no. 84.3), although providing no really close parallel. Dr. T. Dickinson (University of York, pers. comm.) notes that the decorative motifs, notably the combination of human face and incurving birds heads, is related to Salin's Style II decoration. Possibly it may have functioned as a horse harness or similar decorative fitting (H. Geake, pers. comm.), but this remains to be fully proven. It probably dates to the 7th century AD.
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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