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Description: | A cast copper alloy possible strap fitting. The object is cast in the form of a jester?s head, moulded in high-relief. It has lentoid eyes with a sub-triangular nose and a horizontal groove representing the mouth. The head has a tight hood which forms a border around the face. The only decoration on the hood is a central knop which protrudes over the forehead. There are two pointed, vertical ears protruding from either upper ?corners? of the head. The ears are defined by a lentoid shaped cell with a ?V? shaped profile. The reverse of the ears are flush with the reverse of the object. Integral to the upper edge of the head is a small sub-rectangular protrusion which is broken. It is not certain whether this protrusion was originally a mounting point or further decoration. The break is not recent as the abraded red/brown surface covers the break. Integral to the lower edge of the head are three protrusions. The central protrusion, which is a vertical decorative mounting point, is sub-rectangular with a rounded lower edge. In profile it is slightly twisted, this does not appear to be deliberate, but there is no evidence of recent damage. This terminal has a sub-circular hole which is 5.5mm diameter. The hole?s frame is slightly off-set from the upper portion; this is particularly noticeable on the reverse. The off-set portion of the central protrusion is decorated with a low-relief ?X? on the outward looking face. Either side of this central protrusion is another linear protrusion which is semi-circular in section and terminates with a sub-circular knop which is also semi-circular in section. The reverse of the object is hollow. The majority of the surface is abraded and is a matte red/brown colour. There are traces of a heavy mid to dark green patina, which is most prevalent on the reverse, within the hollow. The face, in particular, has fine scratches, where they, in some places, reveal fresh metal. These are likely to be due to recent cleaning. The object measures 49.5mm long, 35.31mm wide across the ears, and 13.68mm thick from the hood knop to the reverse. It weighs 24.1g.
Geoff Egan (Museum of London and Medieval Finds Advisor for the Portable Antiquities Scheme) comments on the object?
?I think this jester is, ... end of Medieval/16th century. Not only the patina but the form of what may be a 'strap end' (for a very special costume) or if too large for that some kind of attachment, perhaps actually to a fool's bauble. Jesters seem to have got into the repertoire of general motifs around that time - on ceramic whistles and knife handles.? | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1400
1600 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Angie Bolton | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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