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Description: | Medieval cast copper-alloy heraldic horse-harness pendant. Mass: 7.4g; length: 41.9; width: 26.4mm; depth:7.3mm (suspension loop). Shield shaped with a suspension loop at its apex, at 90 degrees to the plane of the pendant. ? bendy gules. There has been some loss of red enamel particularly in the middle two bends. The pendant otherwise has a green and brown slightly pitted surface. A wax coating has been applied to the pendant.In "the Medieval Horse and its Equipment" (2004, Clarke (ed.)), Griffiths (p62) states that pendants would have been suspended from horse harnesses by means of small mounts riveted to the straps (for a complete mount and pendant, see record WMID-6C52B3). Based on the large number of pendants more recently available for study, Griffiths (1986, cited in Clarke, 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. From perhaps the second half of the 13th century heraldric designs appear on pendants, with coats of arms depicted with coloured enamels, silvering, and gilding, and increasingly in the form of small shields. By the end of the 14th century, pendants were in decline with fashions changing to decorative leather or fabric trappings. Based on this work by Griffith's (1986), it is likely that the pendant described in this record can be dated to circa 1250 - 1400.
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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