|
Date: |
|
Description: | An early Anglo-Saxon gilded copper-alloy horse-harness mount dating to the 7th century AD. The mount is circular, and slightly convex in profile. The surface is decorated with triple-strand interlace surrounded by two raised concentric borders, the inner of which is beaded. In the centre of the mount is a circular setting, flanked by three smaller circular settings positioned at 2, 6, and 10 o'clock positions. All of the settings (where visible beneath dirt and corrosion) have a beaded border ridge around them and in addition that at 6 o'clock has its inner wall beaded. The settings are now empty, but probably originally had settings of glass or garnet.A broken projecting tab extends from the top edge of the mount, at 12 o'clock; partial cleaning of this has found it to be decorated with a gilded chip-carved human face within a curved beaded ridge. The face has a curved ridge forming its edge, just within the beaded ridge; from this, a nose descends. To either side of the nose is a raised eye, with a curved ridge separating this from a triangular cheek. A downturned ridge forms a possible moustache with a straight line for the mouth below. The reverse of the mount is undecorated and ungilded. It has three integrally cast circular-section attachment rivets protruding, one in the centre and one to either side (at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock). There are two parallel raised lugs protruding from the bottom edge of the mount, possibly forming an attachment for suspending a lower pendant to the mount; there also appear to be pairs of flat circular scars near each of the side rivets, perhaps for other attachments.Helen Geake suggests that similar examples of this type of object are known from Mound 17 at Sutton Hoo (Carver 2005) and also from Hardingstone in Northamptonshire (Fern 2005, fig. 5.6); she suggests a date of AD 630-680.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
PENDANT
Description: Early Anglo-Saxon gold disc…
-
MOUNT
Cast copper alloy mount with…
-
MOUNT
A silver zoomorphic mount of…
-
Mount
An incomplete gilded copper-alloy probable…
-
MOUNT
An incomplete gilded copper-alloy probable…
-
MOUNT
An incomplete gilded copper-alloy probable…
-
TOY
A lead alloy toy pocket-watch…
-
-
|