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Description: | A copper alloy harness fitting dating from the Medieval period. It is shield shaped with a flared collar at the bottom of the shield. From this, a circular shaft terminating in a shallow hook projects. The shield still shows traces of red and blue enamel and was double sided. It had on one face: gules, three lions passant (or?) with a label of three points azure. These are the probably the arms of Edward of Caernarvon, prince of Wales and later King Edward II. The blazon was also used by his son, later Edward III, when he was Prince of Wales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armorial_of_Plantagenet). On the other face, the design may be described as: azure, a chevron (Or or argent?) between three escallops (Or or Argent?) and on a chief gules, a lion passant (Or?). The blazon: Azure, a chevron Or between three escallops Argent may be attributed to Roatin of Poitou (Gleaned from Papworth's Ordinary, Burke's "General Armory" and Rietstap's "Armorial General" and quoted from http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~heraldry/o_chev_4.html). This object was probably used by a supporter of Edward II or III. It has a length of 62.77mm, width 21.52mm, thickness 3.82mm, weight 19.80g. The exact function of a haness fitting of this shape is not understood. Nick Griffiths writes in his FRG datasheet: "Finally and of uncertain purpose is a small group of shields, double sided (some repeat the same design, others have different designs) at the top of a rod or bar curved into a hook (fig. 14). The heraldic design is surely meant to be upright, so the 'hook' cannot have been used to suspend the shield; it may have slotted into a surface, to produce a standing shield." Another example is LANCUM-9F42C2 on the database.
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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