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Description: | A complete cast copper-alloy and enamelled Medieval harness pendant (c. 1250-c. 1450).The pendant is an elaborate quatrefoil with an attached suspension mount. The edges of the front face of the pendant are slightly bevelled and it is slightly misshapen. The mount is sub-square in plan with a pair of lower tabs which are perforated and hold an iron bar that allows the pendant to swivel. The tabs are circular in side view. At the rear of the main part there is a projecting integral spike for attachment. This tapers and is circular in cross-section. It measures 15.1mm in height and 8.3mm in width.On the top of the quatrefoil is an integral cast suspension loop which is set at 90 degrees to the plain of the pendant.The front face of the pendant has an elaborate cast design depicted in relief on a background of red and blue enamel. The central design is enclosed within a square panel and depicts a lion passant guardant on a field of blue enamel. At each corner of the central panel is a small lobe like projection which is also filled with blue enamel. Between these lobes are further semi-circular panels of red enamel each with a spread gilt or silvered debased fleur-de-lis which is connected to the central square. It measures 28.0mm in height and 19.8mm in width.The mount is corroded and has no patina but has a fleck of gilding. The pendant is also corroded and has no patina. It is mostly a reddish brown colour with no patina. The enamel is in poor condition.Overall length: 37.4mm; width: 19.8mm; thickness: 1.5mm. Weight: 8.02g.Similar elaborate quatrefoil shaped horse harness pendants have been dated to the middle of the medieval period, specifically the 14th century. A number of similar devices are published by Steven Ashley in Medieval Armorial Horse Furniture in Norfolk, p. 21 fig. 21, refs: 208-213. He suggests that these pendants are likely to be made after 1340 when the fleur-de-lis of France was quartered with the lions of England. An example of this type has been found in an excavated context dated to the period 1425-1521.
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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